Team
It takes a village to raise a child! At the moment, over 50 staff work every day to ensure that our children grow up to be adults with the best chances.
Founder Silke Rösner
Silke Rösner, head of the Kinder Paradise project, was born in 1964 in Leer / Ostfriesland, Germany. After completing A-level she trained in basic hotel management in Hamburg and worked in geriatric home care until she resettled in Ghana.
Ms Rösner narrates about the beginning of the project Kinder Paradise: “When I first travelled to Ghana in 1992 on a holiday, I was very impressed and touched by what I met there. A dream started taking shape within me, as I imagined myself to be working in a children’s home there, in the future.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11: 1, KJ 21) “Faith in God sustained me in good and difficult times and gave me strength. The children always give me the joy of looking at the goal.”
Seeing the need in Ghana during her visits over the following years made a great impact on her. In 1997, after Silke Rösner had overcome a difficult period in her life – not the least with the help of her deep faith – her desire to assist the children in need became substantial. In accordance with the words in the Bible, “Defend the poor and fatherless: Do justice to the afflicted and needy,” Psalm 82:3, she visited many orphanages, missions, and schools in Ghana to assess where her help would be most needed and useful.
After her return to Germany, Silke Rösner began to collect donations in cash and in kind. The first container with donations was shipped to Ghana in 1998. In October 1998, 15 children, who had lived in the streets of Accra, moved into the first house in Ghana and found a new home.
During the first years, Silke Rösner commuted between Germany and Ghana on a regular basis, until, in 2001, she left her work and her residence in Hamburg permanently, in order to be able to take complete care of the project “Kinder Paradise“.
In 2008, she received the Federal Cross of Merit, and in 2010 she was given an award for her contribution to the welfare of Ghanaian children by the Ministry of Women and Children in Accra, Ghana. Silke Rösner and her team contributed in drawing of the National Standards for Residential Child Care in Ghana and other national policies and guidelines in the years that followed.
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Many people – one vision
Since the foundation, the team behind Kinder Paradise has grown steadily. There are now 53 employees working for the organization.
4 in administration
16 teachers
4 teaching assistants
9 social workers
8 housemothers
5 cooks
5 other employees (driver, security guard, gardener)
The social workers and caregivers live with the children on the premises. They also organize activities such as excursions, events and the implementation of therapy sessions.
The kitchen team does not only look after the home children, but also prepares lunch for all students in the Kinder Paradise school.