Rok Kern Learning Academy
Rok Kern's Training prepares you and your team for 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
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
Start your Journey
In 2018, Australian Modern Slavery Act of 2018 recognised orphanage tourism as contributing to orphanage recruitment – a form of human trafficking. 1.5 million people travel each year on short-term trips or to volunteer in orphanages, creating a 2.6-billion-dollar voluntourism industry. 52% of 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.
Explore Our Courses
The Rok Kern courses are divided into 5 themes or modules. The first of these modules is leadership preparation. These courses are designed for leaders who are preparing to take a team overseas into a different context. These courses are known as our “Training and development stream”.
The second 4 modules cover “How to Respond to Poverty,” “The Cambodian context,” “Caring for vulnerable children” and “Advocate” These courses are designed to be completed in the order described below to equip course participants to enter communities in a learning posture. However these courses can also be done as individual courses or as a group of workshops around the one theme. The Cambodian context studies work best if you are travelling to Cambodia, but all the courses can be taken by anyone wanting a deeper understanding of these topics.
These courses are offered as two streams – Education and Missions. Each course contains a wide range of interactive learning materials and learning styles best designed for a group setting. The Education stream is written from an Aid and Development perspective and is for use within public schools and corporate settings.
The Missions stream is for those interested in exploring the same concepts from a Christian worldview and as well as the interactive group activities of the Education course, also include Bible studies and personal devotional reflections.
PARTNER WITH US
Thank you for considering to partner with us by making a contribution when you register on our site to get access to our courses. Your contribution makes it possible to reach the unreached, to educate our local Cambodian volunteers about the work of family-based care, about the harms of institutional care for vulnerable children, and the work of poverty alleviation.
Your contribution goes towards the upkeep of the website and our courses. Your contribution also helps us train others on how to create good exposure trips, and avoiding the pitfalls of short term trips. Our training is not limited to only Cambodia, but it helps people around the world learn more about charity and justice, and how we can better respond to poverty alleviation.
You might be asking “Is there another way that I can get involved and take the course?” Don’t worry! You can still be part of this journey with us. Please contact our team for more information and there are free courses and workshops available for you!
Leader Preparation
understanding the harm of short-term missions and volunteering
- Avoiding the pitfalls of short-term missions
Best Practice of Short-Term Missions
- How to create a good exposure trip
Curriculum materials
- Training how to use our curriculum materials
Participant Learning
How to respond to poverty
Available Online:
- Charity and Justice
- Paradigms of Poverty
- Good Aids and Development
- Ethical Communications
The cambodian context
Available Online:
- Understanding Culture
- History of Cambodia
Available in Person in Cambodia:
- Cultural Learning Project
- Historical Sites
- Religious Sites
Caring for vulnerable children
Available Online:
- From Orphanage Manager to Family-Based Care Advocate: The Cambodian Context
- Orphanages Around the World
- The West's Journey Away From Orphanages
- Ethical Communications
Available in Person in Cambodia:
- Helping Children At Risk Grow Up In A Loving Family - Part 1
- Helping Children At Risk Grow Up In A Loving Family - Part 2
- Helping Children At Risk Grow Up In A Loving Family - Part 3
- Helping Children At Risk Grow Up In A Loving Family - Part 4
Advocate
Available in Person in Cambodia:
- What's My Passion
- Championing a Cause
After Your Visit to Cambodia:
- Advocacy or Fundraising Project
- Post Trip Workbook
Register to Join the Rok Kern Learning Academy
Ready to start your journey?
Click the REGISTER button and complete the registration form and you will be on your way to a journey of discovery with Rok Kern.
Click the REGISTER button and complete the registration form and you will be on your way to a journey of discovery with Rok Kern.
Join Us
Our Courses by stream
Training and Development Stream
No Courses Found!
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Short-Term Missions or Volunteering [TD]
Planning for a trip abroad is complicated. This course will help us to plan our trip well and avoid what is called “The common pitfalls of short-term trips”.
Ethical Communication - Leaders [TD]
How do we know that what we are telling people at home is respect to the dignity of the country that we are visiting to? This course will give you a better tool to re-access ourselves and snapping our stories more ethical and dignity.
Good Exposure Trips [TD]
As seen in our previous course, ‘Avoiding the Pitfalls of Short-Term Missions’, research has shown that many forms of short-term volunteering actually do harm to the very communities they are trying to serve. In this course, we explore what methods are shown to lead to positive outcomes for both the …
Mission Stream
No Courses Found!
![Championing a Cause [Ms] Course Photo](https://www.rokkernacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Championing-a-Cause-Ms-Course-Photo.jpg)
Championing a Cause [MS]
To equip participants with the skills they need to take what they have learnt and put it into practice in their home environment.
Charity and Justice [MS]
How do we live out our faith by word and deed? The session aims for us to go beyond the system works and approaches to ending social injustices that are caused by poverty and how the biblical approaches to poverty alleviation through Charity.
Ethical Communication [MS]
Going on a mission trip, for sure our friends, church, and family members can wait to hear from us. This course will give us a tool to reflect on “An image tells a thousand stories” with dignity and respect as they are equally created by God.
From Orphanage Manager to Family-Based Care Advocate: The Cambodian Context [MS]
With the word “orphan” some of us will think of kids without parents. But in some countries, their definition is different. We are going to learn from the journal of Caleb and Courtney on their mission trips to Cambodia and the importance of family-based care.
Introduction to Biblical Foundations [MS]
Do we go on a mission to serve with our eyes open? This course will help us to go deeper in discussing the different forms of missions in serving the poor and how we serve them well in responding to God's calling
Introduction to Good Aid and Development [MS]
This Good Aids and Development course will give us a different perspective on “Learning to critique Aids and Development” of how we can tell the differences that the organisation we are supporting and working with is making a positive change.
Journey Through the History of Cambodia [MS]
Cambodia is among the oldest countries in South East Asia. What is the first word that comes to our mind when we hear about it? The journey through the history of Cambodia will help us to understand more about its history than ours.
Orphanages Around the World [MS]
By obedience to the word of God, as Christian, we share love and resources to care for vulnerable children and orphans. In this course will tell us if our good intention helps or hurts the people that we are trying to serve.
Reconciling our Global Position and the Common Good [MS]
Do we need a framework for reflecting on the advantages and disadvantages experienced by certain groups or identities?
The Paradigms of Poverty [MS]
Who is poor? Who decides? We often view poverty as lack of resources, money or wealth and so on. This course will help us to understand better how we define poverty compare to God's. Sign up now to learn more how we can response well to poverty eradication.
![West Journey Away [MS] Course Image](https://www.rokkernacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/West-Journey-Away-MS-Course-Image.jpg)
The West’s Journey Away from Orphanages [MS]
An exploration of the history of orphanages in the West
Understanding Culture [MS]
Entering other cultures there are so many things to articulate. We need to challenge ourselves to try new things that including foods, transportation, social events and figuring out how the local practice their beliefs. This course will prepare you well to avoiding cultural shocks and learning to appreciate “How God …
Education Stream
No Courses Found!
![Championing a Cause [ES] Course Photo](https://www.rokkernacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Championing-a-Cause-ES-Course-Photo.jpg)
Championing a Cause [ES]
This session builds on the advocacy knowledge that was first introduced in the Good Aid and Development course. It takes the knowledge that people have developed during their time in Cambodia and puts it into action with a distinct plan that they can do in the first few weeks being …
Charity and Justice [ES]
Giving to charity is something we want to contribute to society to make a difference. How do we know that our giving to charity is making a difference? Sign up for this course to learn more about individual and social and systematic responses to the work of charity and justice.
Ethical Communication [ES]
How do we know that what we are telling people at home is with respect to the dignity of the country that we are visiting? This course will give you a better tool to re-access ourselves and snap our stories more ethically and with dignity
From Orphanage Manager to Family-Based Care Advocate: The Cambodian Context [ES]
Why do the forms of care for vulnerable children need to be taken into consideration before we do more harm rather than help? This course is for anyone who wishes to invest in a longer-term impact for children.
![Good Aid [ES] and Development Couse Photo](https://www.rokkernacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Good-Aid-ES-and-Development-Couse-Photo.jpg)
Introduction to Good Aid and Development [ES]
This course will provide a wide understanding of the aid and development sector, exploring the keys principles for good development, and gives you the tools that you can critique in a different model and reflection on which step that you can really make a difference.
Journey Through the History of Cambodia [ES]
How do we view Cambodia and its history? How does Cambodian view its history and the country itself? Sign up for this course if you want to dig deeper and This course is good for long and short termer who plan to visit this country.
Orphanages Around the World [ES]
Many of us have a desire to care for orphans and vulnerable children globally. We either give money to groups or volunteer by ourselves on a trip. Does it help? This course will help you to learn more about the history of the orphanage and the different approaches to problem …
![Reconciling Global Position [ES] Course Photo](https://www.rokkernacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Reconciling-Global-Position-ES-Course-Photo.jpg)
Reconciling Our Global Position and The Common Good [ES]
This is the first of our debriefing sessions. It comes towards the end of the program as participants have the opportunity to reflect on their experiences in Cambodia and how that has impacted them.
The Paradigms of Poverty [ES]
We look at people sometimes based on their resources so as to view poverty. This course will help us to define poverty differently and how we can better respond to the work of poverty eradication.
The West’s Journey Away from Orphanages [ES]
An exploration of the history of orphanages in the West
Understanding Culture [ES]
Entering another culture, for sure, there will be lots of things to articulate. There are always different interpretations and understanding concepts between the high and the low cultures. This course is highly preparing you well before entering other cultures. Especially in the honor-shame culture of Cambodia.