A former street child from Cape Town will be off to London to work with Jamie Oliver.

Kapa or "MK", through ambition and the help of the MyLife Street children project, managed to get off Cape Town's streets after seven years. Through the project MyLife he worked in several restaurants in Cape Town, and worked himself up to the position of chef.

And now he will be working at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, which employs chefs from disadvantaged backgrounds from all over the world. It is here Kapa hopes to become an accomplished pastry chef, before returning to Cape Town's Philippi township, to open a bakery and coffee shop.

Linzi Thomas, project director of MyLife, describes MK as a great role model to children still on the street. "MK is multi-talented. He does modeling, he's an R&B musician and comedian ... He completed a 10-minute documentary that is just hilarious. And he works hard to provide for his two-year-old daughter."

The only thing standing in Kapa's way is funding for his trip to Britain. "The time of his departure depends on how soon we can find funding," Thomas said. "It's a slow process."

(Source: SouthAfrica.info - South Africa Times  / 7 June 2005 )