Why read about family-based care when there is an opportunity to see and hear about it firsthand? Children in Families, a local Cambodian NGO, has created a program they call Rok Kern. Rok Kern is a Khmer phrase meaning “to come and see,” and that is exactly what they invite participants to do. Aligning with
Recently the Rok Kern team was invited to speak at one of the International Schools here in Phnom Penh about volunteering and how we can best serve others. We spent a lesson talking to the year 11s about the issues around volunteering in orphanages and the growth of Family Based Care in Cambodia. After watching
The Rok Kern project is an education project, aimed at teaching students and church-goers outside of Cambodia, about the harms of volunteering in orphanages and how they can “make a difference” in healthy and sustainable ways. Sometimes, the Rok Kern team has the opportunity to meet with international students within Cambodia and run similar workshops
Short-term missions or volunteer trips are conducted around the world with the best intentions to care for children and their families and communities. People fundraise, visit, give and serve hoping to make a difference to individuals and to the injustices in our world. Increasingly, research is suggesting that these trips can be harmful to the
