Denise Arnold: Changemaker
In a world where so much is wrong, BOP legend Denise Arnold makes the right kind of difference – bringing purpose and hope to the abandoned generations of Cambodia.
words nicky adams / photos graeme murray + stacey simpkin
styling lisa shea / hair + makeup desiree osterman
It is relatively rare to meet someone who channels their energies into the greater good rather than individual gain. Even rarer when they seem oblivious to the fact that this trait is in part what makes them exceptional. Denise Arnold, although I’m confident she’ll absolutely hate it being said, is just such a person. In 2007, she founded the Tauranga-based Cambodia Charitable Trust, which, through developing quality education, provides free education to vulnerable Cambodian children (predominantly female). The aim is ultimately to give the children of Cambodia the tools to forge a future for themselves. A future which, otherwise, they would not have even the remotest chance of accessing.
A finalist for this year’s Women Of Influence award, Denise is calm and low key, and what strikes me most as she makes me a cup of tea and we chat about cats, children and COVID, is that while so much of her time must be channeled into the charity, there is a real sense of balance about her. She has a marvellous selection of teas in her tea drawer and has recently rehomed a cat from an aged client at her law firm. Straight away it’s clear she has impeccable taste (the love of tea gave that away) and the kindest of hearts.
A lawyer by profession, in 2006 Denise was busy with two teenage girls and her position as a partner at Tauranga law firm Lyon O’Neale Arnold, when she was galvanised into action by two consecutive events. Her elder daughter Emily had just returned from a school trip to Bangkok, a trip that had heightened every maternal sense of safety and ‘what if’. At the time, Denise was working as a volunteer for ECPAT – End Child Prostitution Pornography And Trafficking (now Child Alert). But with her own daughter away, Denise could not shake the knowledge circling in her head of the literally millions of women and girls who go missing. Around this time, she was triggered by another incident. “I read in the New Zealand Herald about children in Cambodia being rented out of a brothel on a weekly basis – that is no less horrific than on an hourly basis – but for some reason it just hit me to the core. When I read about this I thought emphatically no, no, no, that is not happening on my watch.”
She was told by a friend that a man called Steve Chitty (who became an initial trustee of CCT) was talking about taking businesspeople to Cambodia to introduce honest trade. Steve and Denise spent a year independently researching and learning, during which time Denise became more and more interested in the development aspect. At the end of 2007, the duo headed over to Cambodia. Steve focused on Phnom Penh, and Denise spent about three weeks travelling around rural areas. “That was my way of trying to find out how I was going to bring about long-term change. It’s easy to do good, but it’s harder to do no harm; that’s a really strong principle for me. While we can achieve a goal, we need to be cognitive in our path and the impact that might have.”
Returning from the trip Denise was clear that she wanted to implement change systematically. She identified education as the key, thus the manifesto was set for the establishment of the Cambodian Charitable Trust. The team is made up of key volunteers and educators, as well as Patron Theresa Gattung and Ambassadors Nadia Lim and (former New Zealand prime minister / UN Administrator) Helen Clark. Since 2008 the team in Cambodia has been led by “the truly wonderful, gifted, well respected” country manager Soeun Ouch. Over 14 operational years the organisation may have grown, but the guiding principles remain clear – every person is a volunteer, thus 100 percent of money raised goes exactly where it is intended. Surprisingly, this is actually quite unusual.
Today, the Trust supports 209 schools and tens of thousands of needy children.
Denise doesn’t blather on about how wonderful it feels to make a difference, or the warm fuzzies she gets from providing aid. She is at once compassionate and pragmatic as she talks about the gentle Cambodian culture, and how it is one that welcomes her input. “The people want you to know them – they don’t just want money; they want you to appreciate who they are and the challenges they face.” There was, she says, a learning curve she underwent getting to grips with operating within a totally different economic paradigm, for example quickly realising that instead of handing out pre-made school uniforms, by providing sewing machines and guidance a group of villagers could sew them themselves. The concept of providing the tools, rather than just a pre-packaged solution is an ethos she is passionate about.
When there are so many countries in need, why Cambodia? Simple, says Denise – “I really felt like I was in the right place.” It is perhaps too easy to forget that Cambodia is a country decimated by a brutal 30-year civil war that took place in very recent history. A war which, under the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-9) and Pol Pot, destroyed lives, culture, politicians, leaders, educators, mothers and fathers. An entire generation was wiped out, and another brought up in camps barely surviving starvation and physical abuse. This is a country that was expected to re-learn everything, but in the ultimate of cruel ironies, there was barely anyone left to teach. “The rich history has been dominated by recent history. We’re aware that through Pol Pot a whole generation was lost but also lost were the parenting skills – that will take another generation to correct. Today’s adults were abandoned. There’s a gap that will “take another generation to get right.”
I wonder if, as a conservative society, there is a reluctance to deal with a woman in a position of authority. “Not at all – as a Westerner people turn to you… and I feel we’re sending a strong message to women in Cambodia when our van pulls up and out pile a group of rather rumpled, tired women. They are watching this and thinking, ‘Here are unaccompanied decision makers.’” A turning point for Denise was “the realisation that we had the ability to influence schools far wider than you ever expected. If you retain an open approach to knowledge and expertise and resourcing, then you’re lily jumping. That drove us to think about working into clusters of schools to expand further.” Which all comes back to the concept of teaching someone to fish, rather than giving them a meal.
Still, it must be hard not to be overwhelmed. Denise agrees, but says she took heart when her mother-in-law quoted Eleanor Roosevelt to her: “’It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.’ I felt a huge sense of relief that I didn’t need to solve it all, I just needed to do something… My role is to keep my eye on the horizon and keep everyone moving forwards towards a better outcome.” Sometimes, though, such
focus is nigh on impossible. Denise recalls, “We had a baby starving and it really derailed me. I had to try and figure out how to save it. In the end the baby died. I wondered what I could have done differently. My husband said, ‘You’re helping thousands.’ And I said, there’s
no point helping thousands if you lose the value of one. I’ve really struggled with that.”
What drives her, I wonder. “Fundamentally every child deserves to have a childhood and go to school and play, and be happy. They also have a right to the opportunity for a decent life and a good future and education is the key to that I believe.”
The success of the Trust cannot be underestimated. She talks not just of the work of the team but also of the incredible educators – many Tauranga locals – who have generously lent their expertise. Nevertheless, for Denise the years have been filled with constant learning, striving to deliver her best.
As part of her journey, she completed a Masters, and contemplated a PHD.
The pressure must be immense, yet I don’t get the sense that Denise sees the difference between how most of us try to make a difference (I struggle to organise a cake bake) and the incredible work that she is doing. What really strikes me is how she seems to be hands-on in every aspect, from fundraising to liaising with ministries. Her bandwidth seems to be so wide I am frankly floored with admiration. To achieve all she does Denise says she breaks it down into sizeable chunks.
“I will never reach everywhere I want to reach. I’m a one-horse race. I need to focus on what I can do and not be overwhelmed by what I can’t achieve. I can’t afford the mission to drift and dilute us to the point we can’t survive.”
The mission, however, has inevitably been affected by COVID. “The issue last year for Cambodia with COVID wasn’t illness, it was the complete breakdown of the economic system. The families had no work, no income, no food. The contrast between them and us is always grounded in the degree of poverty – we have poverty in New Zealand, but this is poverty with no support network.” Just prior to COVID hitting, she explains that Helen Clark was due to spend four days with them in Cambodia. “I admire her vision and capacity for understanding development issues hugely. I really wanted her to give us an overarching strategic review about where we were going, how we were managing, what our focus could be. Because we do span right from the top, working with the Cambodian Ministry of Education, down to sponsorship and getting children to school – and pretty much everything inbetween. We support schools and teacher training colleges, and the sponsorship of individuals. I was really welcoming Helen’s overview.”
Unfortunately, that trip was cancelled, and instead Denise has found herself dealing with a very different landscape. “Last year it was about the economic impact and verging on starvation. This year the Cambodians have Delta Virus in communities so it’s about economic loss, also the management of the virus in a very poor country with an underprepared health system.” Denise explains how maintaining the educational program requires working with the Ministry to develop strategies for the basics of distance learning, both for the students and the teachers who are training. However, “At the other extreme we
have a humanitarian crisis – no rice, no ability to have medical care… but we can’t let go of the systemic development of education in Cambodia. You also need to make sure the people survive.” So, whereas usually the Trust supports 23 schools and 10,500 children, this has increased to include an additional
186 schools. They have also handed out 1,806 50kg bags of rice.
Denise sees education as key to effecting meaningful change in Cambodia, and Ambassador Nadia Lim is also onboard for the cause.
Peppered through our conversation are loving references to Denise’s husband Doug, their children, grandchildren, her sisters, and nephews. It’s no surprise to find that Denise hasn’t fallen far from her genetic tree – her dad, Brian, is a retired teacher and mum, Fiona, a retired nurse. Both are involved in CCT, combining their skills to set up a system for health screening and training Cambodian nurses to conduct eye tests. Don’t ask me how she keeps all her balls in the air, but it’s apparent her close family help with the juggle. She muses that she sometimes wonders if her daughters Emily and Tegan have missed out in any way by the time she has spent focusing on the Trust – but then she laughs as she points out that as teenagers, they were probably just hugely relieved she had a focus that kept her off their backs.
Clearly her family are immensely proud of her, and they share her philanthropic spirit. Daughter Emily is currently setting up an online business, the Giftery, five percent of the profits from which will go towards the concept of building residential facilities on the school grounds – a vital move to protect the most vulnerable. In this family of overachievers, Denise’s sister Janine is the founder of Bestow Beauty, well-known in New Zealand for its holistic products which promote beauty from within (although its collagen powder also helps with those pesky wrinkles on the outside). Janine and Denise’s other sister Robyn are firm supporters of the Trust, both sponsoring children and through the Bestow Sisterhood program. The Bestow Generositea are beautiful teas, the profits from which are donated to the Trust. This tea and Nadia Lim’s cookbooks will be just some of the products available from the Giftery – raising the funds is, after all, the vital foundation on which the charity is built.
It’s exciting to find out not just how Denise has grown, developed, but how she has rolled with the punches and adapted the Charity to unexpected challenges. Denise is very appreciative of the amazing team – Theresa Gattung, ‘a dear friend and stalwart’, and Nadia Lim, who has been unreserved in her support. It’s little surprise that Denise is a finalist for this year’s Women Of Influence awards. It is an honour for which she is obviously very grateful, but in typical fashion sees it as a reflection of the incredible broader team in both New Zealand and Cambodia. Nevertheless, credit where it is due, Denise is more than just the glue holding all these fantastic people together, she is the tireless champion of the cause: the instigator, the cheerleader, and most importantly the voice that sets the tone, both internally and externally. She has
a very human approach to such a multifaceted task.
If she feels daunted by the fact that this is not a position she can just walk away from, she doesn’t show it. Denise doesn’t miss a beat when she tells me, “I see this as my life’s work and feel really lucky that I have found my calling. Other people spend a lifetime trying to figure out what theirs is.” And this is just one
of many, many reasons that whether she walks away with a trophy or not, she is absolutely a woman of honour.