AT the age of just 21, former New England Girls’ School student Tara Winkler rescued 14 orphans from a corrupt institution in Asia and set up the Cambodian Children’s Trust to give them new hope.
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She is pictured here with one of those orphans, Jendar, whom she says was “like a daughter” to her but died tragically in 2010.
Next month, the former NSW Young Australian of the Year will return to Armidale to share her story with students at her old school.
After leaving NEGS in 2003, Ms Winkler, took a three-week trip to Asia where she met children at an orphanage in Battambang, Cambodia and set about raising funds for it when she got back to Australia.
Returning to Cambodia to see how the funds were being administered, she was shocked by the corruption of the orphanage operators and the physical, sexual and emotional abuse being suffered by many of the children.
With a local man, she gained permission from authorities to establish a new home for the legitimate orphans.
Since that time in 2007, the Trust has grown and in addition to the orphanage, operates a number of projects to break the cycle of poverty in Battambang.
NEGS Principal Ian Downs said the school was delighted to welcome Tara to be the special guest at annual speech day on December 5.
