Make-up and Forget
(Quoted from Tom Hilditch, SCMP)
Sapor’s survival would be extraordinary for a Western woman. For a Cambodian of her generation it is simply average. As a baby her family gave her away. The country was in its second decade of civil war. Her parents were simply too poor to feed another mouth, especially a girl.
Her adopted family, hardly any better off, decided to risk everything and flee the refugee trail to Australia. A nightmare sea journey - complete with pirate horror story and shipwreck - was followed by four years in an Australian internment camp. As the years in camp went by, their situation became a national issue. Pressure groups - including one formed by a young Roseanna Barbero (women's adviser for Hong Kong Oxfam in Cambodia) - fought for the release and naturalisation of the refugees. Eventually, a young lawyer, Matthew Rendall, took their case to appeal.
In courtroom drama that gripped the Australian press, the lawyer won the case, freed the refugees and forced the resignation of Australia's immigration minister. A few months later Matthew and Sapor were married. Sapor went to modeling school in Australia, worked with some good photographers, assembled a nice portfolio. Then, once Sapor had received her Australian passport she and her husband returned to Phnom Penh to see what they could do there. "Matthew inspired me. He believes individuals can make a difference." says Sapor. "That's very unCambodian."
Sapor Rendall, who establish what is arguably her nation's most unnecessary institution: Cambodia's first international school of modelling, said "the hardest part of my job is not finding beautiful women - Cambodia has lots of those. It is teaching them to be self-confident. In our culture that is in short supply. This is a school for modelling but really, first and foremost, it is a school where women go to learn confidence.
As a Christian, what you can contribute to this country. I also believe that individuals can make a difference. You can do something for the Cambodian - support the missionaries by your prayer and money; visit the mission field and share your love to the Cambodia's children.