Learn
To care for marginalised and vulnerable members of society and seek justice in everyday life
Celebrate
New cultures and how local people are transforming their communities
Advocate
Using your learning and skills within your communities to empower local people to serve their communities
Rok Kern is an invitation to do volunteering and short-term missions in new ways – exploring what it means to love and serve others while entering new cultures and communities with humility and respect.
Learn how our past efforts have unintentionally harmed vulnerable children and communities and how Cambodian practitioners are changing that.
Be inspired to love and serve others in your daily life.
Rok Kern has been created using best practice standards from the aid, development and mission sectors. Through our partnerships with organisations in these sectors, we continue to reflect and learn from current research into ethical approaches.
Recognizing the impact that many short term teams have on the communities they are visiting, Rok Kern is committed to using do-no-harm approaches in every aspect of the program.
Rok Kern is committed to safe-guarding children and their communities so that everyone has the opportunity to grow up with a healthy childhood. Visitors do not interact with any local children or vulnerable people groups on a Rok Kern trip.
Rok Kern has been created using best practice standards from the aid, development and mission sectors. Through our partnerships with organisations in these sectors, we continue to reflect and learn from current research into ethical approaches.
Recognizing the impact that many short term teams have on the communities they are visiting, Rok Kern is committed to using do-no-harm approaches in every aspect of the program.
Rok Kern is committed to safe-guarding children and their communities so that everyone has the opportunity to grow up with a healthy childhood. Visitors do not interact with any local children or vulnerable people groups on a Rok Kern trip.
Australian Modern Slavery Act of 2018 recognises orphanage tourism as contributing to orphanage recruitment – a form of human trafficking.
travel each year on short-term trips or to volunteer in orphanages, creating a 2.6 billion dollar voluntourism industry.
church goers in Australia and up to 15% of Australian schools financially support orphanages.
Rok Kern recognizes that people who volunteer abroad (whether that is in orphanages, or in other forms of short-term mission trips) do so with the best of intentions and a desire to care for others. Rok Kern realizes that reflecting on past experiences, learning new approaches, and changing attitudes takes time and emotional investment. Consequently, we ask all our staff and program participants to uphold the following values:
We are open to learn as guests in new cultures.
We celebrate and work with local organizations to help them achieve their goals.
We respect the culture, privacy and lived experiences of those we meet.
We recognize each person’s dignity and consider the way we communicate about others.
We use our lived experiences to amplify the voices calling for change in their communities.
What People Say
Rok Kern is addressing critical issues that schools and churches facilitating mission and service trips need to consider. Team visits to poor communities overseas, conducted well, can present an invaluable opportunity to learn about the richness of other cultures, the nature and impact of systemic injustice, local resilience and resourcefulness, and opportunities for positive partnerships between Australians and international communities. Conducted badly, team visits can reinforce an unhelpful myth of western superiority and promote damaging paternalistic interventions into the lives of the poor. Rok Kern does a great job of helping people to understand the difference between these two approaches.
Mike Penberthy
South East Asia and Pacific Regional Coordinator, TEAR Australia
Find out more about our approach, the latest research and reflections from participants on our blog.
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