Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, has been giving Geraldine Cox, founder of one of Cambodia’s most busiest orphanages called Sunrise Children’s Village, some major attention. To the extent that the prime minister himself has given Cox land to build orphanages, which has become one of the major income generators for Cambodia’s economy.

Pre-2005, before orphanage tourism became a booming business model for the country’s travel and tourism industry, Cambodia attracted a little over a million tourists annually. However, the demand for “voluntourism” through orphanage tourism has helped catapult the annual number of tourists to 3.5 million in 2012 and climbing. Shockingly, it has become evidently clear that most of these children living in Cambodia’s “orphanages” aren’t even orphans at all. A fact that most of these so-called “voluntourists” are not even aware of.

Hence, the conundrum for some: Is it ethical to parade “orphans” for tourists who come buses upon buses to see them? And so, the discourse has began anew. Whichever side of the fence you are on, for or against “orphanage tourism, you might find my interview with Cox of particular interest.

The unlikely alliance between Cox and Sen has undoubtedly helped paved the way for what many are calling yet another form of “exploitation of Cambodia’s children.” For Cox, this much is certain, having the prime minister as ally has made her the unlikely “Queen of Cambodia’s Orphanage Tourism.”

What was intended to be a 15-minute conversation has resulted to an almost hour-long discussion on anything and everything orphanage tourism. Today’s eTN 2.0 presentation is the conclusion of the four-part series called “Cambodia’s Orphanage Tourism Queen.”

Part Three

Part Two

Part One

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https://www.eturbonews.com/39220/orphanage-voluntourism-responsible-tourism-gone-wrong
https://www.eturbonews.com/40792/cambodia-tourism-children-rent-hour

If you want to support Geraldine Cox’s annual drive towards $1 million, you can find ways to do so via Sunrise Children’s Villages website, http://www.scv.org.au