Danny Lannen
Geelong Advertiser (Australia)
ARMED youths menaced humanitarian and former Ocean Grove resident Geraldine Cox before mounting a blockade at an Australia Cambodia Foundation orphanage.
Foundation representatives said Ms Cox was forced into hiding with staff after they were run out of the Sunrise Angkor orphanage by a renegade gang of about 15 which later blockaded the site.
Military police and government officials were called in to break the blockade.
Foundation project co-ordinator Brenton Whittaker said Ms Cox had shown outstanding bravery in a dangerous situation.
Youths armed with iron bars, bricks and tools had taken control after one of their gang members was asked to leave the orphanage.
Mr Whittaker said the group had attempted to rob the orphanage headquarters and he had been forced to flee.
Ms Cox told him she would come to help him.
"I said don't come up here, it's crazy," Mr Whittaker said.
"She said no 'I'm coming up to support you' because she's fearless that woman.
"She came up and we knew that the children had no food because I couldn't get in because it was blockaded and too dangerous."
The foundation has run the former government orphanage since 2004.
Mr Whittaker said the youths could not be blamed for the dramas.
"They're a product of their environment, people forget the Khmer Rouge only left in 1998, that's not that long ago," he said.
Ms Cox first travelled to Cambodia in 1970 with the Department of Foreign Affairs and has lived in the country since 1996 working with disadvantaged children.
Foundation representatives said Ms Cox was forced into hiding with staff after they were run out of the Sunrise Angkor orphanage by a renegade gang of about 15 which later blockaded the site.
Military police and government officials were called in to break the blockade.
Foundation project co-ordinator Brenton Whittaker said Ms Cox had shown outstanding bravery in a dangerous situation.
Youths armed with iron bars, bricks and tools had taken control after one of their gang members was asked to leave the orphanage.
Mr Whittaker said the group had attempted to rob the orphanage headquarters and he had been forced to flee.
Ms Cox told him she would come to help him.
"I said don't come up here, it's crazy," Mr Whittaker said.
"She said no 'I'm coming up to support you' because she's fearless that woman.
"She came up and we knew that the children had no food because I couldn't get in because it was blockaded and too dangerous."
The foundation has run the former government orphanage since 2004.
Mr Whittaker said the youths could not be blamed for the dramas.
"They're a product of their environment, people forget the Khmer Rouge only left in 1998, that's not that long ago," he said.
Ms Cox first travelled to Cambodia in 1970 with the Department of Foreign Affairs and has lived in the country since 1996 working with disadvantaged children.
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