Kelvin Joel (far right) and his group of student chefs at the food garden at the Westbury Youth Center. (Image: Johannesburg Culinary and Pastry School)
There is nothing like someone who has done wrong and then turns his life around and does something right to make sure future generations do not walk he path he walked.
Such a person is Kelvin Joel, pastry chef, co-owner of the Johannesburg Culinary and Pastry School, and recipient of the South African Chefs Association’s 2010 Achievement Award.
A youngster with no guidance, Joel got mixed up in drugs in his youth. But he is now making sure the youngsters in his home suburb of Westbury, in western Johannesburg, do not get enticed by the allure of selling drugs to escape poverty.
“Everyone who lived there had challenges at home and school,” he said, “even the community itself. I got an opportunity to change my life.”
Joel started his Chefs Project in 2013 to give these and other troubled youth an opportunity to change their lives through cooking, if they wanted to do so. “Basically, cheffing changed my life. There are youngsters out there who would also like to do it, but don’t have the opportunity. So we want to create the opportunity for them to excel.
“We just try to guide them to make it easier for them to understand. In the fast-paced industry everyone just works to get their job done, and interns don’t get a chance to ask questions. Now they can see if they really want to be a chef, acquire a skill and then have something to sell.”
Watch Joel at explain his childhood and the origins of the Johannesburg Culinary and Pastry School :
Are you playing your part in transforming South Africa? If so, submit your story or video and let us know what you are doing to improve the country for all.
