Sunrise Cambodia

 

These centres often steal or buy children from their poor parents, or they convince parents that their child will be well educated and are better off with them. They treat the children terribly and often force them into free labour. They trot the children out when tourists arrive, and the children are expected to elicit donations from unsuspecting tourists through pity. These children are often kept in dirty clothing, rarely washed and usually denied an education. Some are sexually abused by the owners of the facilities or offered ‘for hire’ to tourists. The operators use the tourist donations to line their own pockets. It is absolutely disgraceful, and I am glad these charlatans are finally being investigated and exposed. If the Modern Slavery Inquiry helps to shine a light on these unethical operators, I’m all for it. In fact, I would go so far as to say to close down any facility that is not registered with the ACNC.  The Australian Government will soon be releasing a register of compliant institutions that meet their eligibility criteria and we fully expect Sunrise to be included.

 
UNICEF has also been warning of the dangers of ‘orphanage tourism’ for some time. There is a UNICEF push to reduce the number of children in residential care by 35% by the end of 2018. Sunrise Cambodia has already met this target. Over the last few years, we have transitioned from being primarily a residential care centre to a health, education and community development centre. We still have approximately 100 vulnerable children in our full-time care. These are children that have been deemed by the authorities as unable to be reintegrated into the villages they came from. Some suffer from disabilities that require around-the-clock care. Some do have a living family member, but that person has been judged unsuitable to care for a child, often due to domestic violence, gambling, drug or alcohol addictions. These days, the only way we accept new children into our residential care program is if the Cambodian Ministry asks us to take them in. Sunrise has been independently reviewed by the authorities in Cambodia for several years and always scores well over 90%. We are proud of this rating. The government trusts us to look after Cambodia’s vulnerable children.
 
We have nonetheless integrated many children back into communities where we have been able to find a suitable family member to care for them. This has been a complex and often difficult process. The last thing we want is to place a child with a family where that child is at risk of harm or forced to leave school and work in the rice fields or become a nanny for the family’s younger children. Let me be perfectly clear, we agree with UNICEF that ‘children are not tourist attractions’.
 
You might be wondering why we still need your donations when the number of children living at Sunrise has dropped. Well let me tell you, we need your support more than ever. In an effort to keep families together, Sunrise has embarked on an extensive community development program. We support children to be in the family home. Let me explain. We might hear about a particularly poor village that has no access to clean water. Sunrise will go into the village and speak to the elders. We might build a well which the whole community can benefit from. We might build houses for the most vulnerable families within that village. We might commit to a monthly donation of rice, ensuring the villagers don’t starve. We might pay the medical costs for the sick in that village or provide transport to get them to a hospital. We might even build a bridge, so the village kids can get to school in the rainy season. If the village is far from a local school, we might provide the kids with bikes to make the commute more achievable. There is still so much to do in Cambodia.
 
Another big part of Sunrise Cambodia’s work is education. Not only do we provide the Sunrise children with a good education, but we run a preschool centre that cares for hundreds of the younger children in the communities around Sunrise. This, in turn, frees up their older siblings’ schedule so that they can attend school. Previously the older kids in the family were forced to stay home and look after their younger siblings whilst their parents went to work. We are literally helping thousands of Cambodian children in this way and are firm believers that education is the best way to eradicate poverty.
 
As you can see there is always so much that needs to be done. I would like to thank you all for your ongoing support. Without it, none of this would be possible. I wish I could personally show the impact your money has made to the people of Cambodia. I’m sure that if you could witness the difference your contribution is making, you would commit to many more years of support. For those that have seen the difference our work makes, I’m sure you will agree. I promise you it is money very well spent.
 
I need to ask you one favour. Next time you hear people talking about how terrible ‘all’ charities in Cambodia are, or how damaging they are to children, please set them straight. It’s true that many Cambodian orphanages are terrible places and should never be supported, but there are some good facilities. We should not take a ‘one size fits all’ approach in Cambodia. Tell them about the good work Sunrise Cambodia is doing. Tell them that our residential care facility is highly regarded and is only used to house vulnerable children. Tell them that the people of Cambodia still need our support.
 
Shortly, we will be asking you to support our EOFY campaign. Please keep an eye out for it. I hope I can count on you for your support.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Wishing you long life, health, strength, wisdom, and peace.

Love and light,
Geraldine Cox AM
Founder and Country Director of Sunrise Cambodia