Cooking up a storm
Kaute Kavezembua, a 2017 WorldSkills competitor and a Level 3 cooking trainee at Nakayale Vocational Training Centre shares how she is turning her passion for cooking into a career that will sustain her.
Twenty-two-year-old Kavezembua, who describes herself as an ambitious young lady, says she is motivated by her love to feed her family. “I am a young lady who wants to become successful and find means to look after my relatives who are unable to look after themselves,” she said. Kavezembua says her grandmother is her source of inspiration as demonstrated by her good heart and commitment to provide for her family all the time.
Kavezembua shared that growing up, she dreamt of becoming a teacher, a dream that still lingers and that she considers doing in future. She admits that, unfortunately not everyone gets to live their childhood dreams and sometimes life forces people to take different routes in life. “Not everyone gets to be a teacher or a doctor, but fortunately for me, I ended up doing something that I still love, which is cooking,” she said.
She recalled how her cousin used to buy recipe books and because she loves trying out new things, she would always challenge herself by trying out those recipes. “My older cousin who is also my guardian thought I was a good cook and she advised me to enrol at a vocational school to hone my skills,” said Kavezembua.
She said she started cooking when she was 11 and the favourite dish she likes to prepare is Sizzling Bison Steak-Fry. According to Kavezembua, what she loves most about cooking is that, it makes her creative and sharpens her ability to multitask. “Cooking requires you to be creative and I love how this creativity brings out the best in me, because at the end of the day I get to produce a delicious meal,” she said. Kavezembua adds that her love for cooking has played a major role in her organisational skills, hygiene and the ability to save resources.
Kavezembua has competed in numerous cooking competitions before and points out the National WorldSkills Competition which took place at Ramatex last year as one of her highlights. Kavezembua was also one of the competitors who competed in the chef competition hosted by the Namibia Chef Association recently. “Being part of these big cooking competitions has taught me a lot and in future I wish to take part in the Chopped cooking competition in South Africa,” she says.
Kavezembua also said that she is grateful for the opportunity granted to her by WorldSkills Namibia to represent Namibia in the cooking competition at international level. “I never knew I would one day be listed as a competitor for this type of competition and for that I am thankful and I hope to do my best to make my family and country proud,” said Kavezembua. She says she is impressed by the support her family and friends have rendered to her and that her wish is to make them all proud. “Being in my position as a WorldSkills competitor is tough because it comes with a lot of expectations, so to have family and friends routing for me is something I do not take for granted,” she said.
Kavezembua shared that in the near future she wants to enrol at Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) to pursue her level 7 in her trade. “After completing my course at Nust I want to become one of the professional chefs in Namibia in order for me to fulfil my dream of becoming a teacher and mentor rookie chef,” she said. Kavezembua warned those who would like to pursue a career in the hospitality industry that the license to make it in this field is hard work. “If you want to make it far in the hospitality industry then you should be ready to work long hours and be able to take criticism from other people regarding your work because most people think hospitality is only cooking which is not the case,” she cautioned. Currently, Kavezembua is busy preparing for the WorldSkills Competition which will take place in Abu Dhabi from October 14-19 2017. “In that country I want to perform to the best of my abilities in order to make my country, mentor and family proud when I will become one of the winners,” she assured.
MICHAEL KAYUNDE
Kavezembua shared that growing up, she dreamt of becoming a teacher, a dream that still lingers and that she considers doing in future. She admits that, unfortunately not everyone gets to live their childhood dreams and sometimes life forces people to take different routes in life. “Not everyone gets to be a teacher or a doctor, but fortunately for me, I ended up doing something that I still love, which is cooking,” she said.
She recalled how her cousin used to buy recipe books and because she loves trying out new things, she would always challenge herself by trying out those recipes. “My older cousin who is also my guardian thought I was a good cook and she advised me to enrol at a vocational school to hone my skills,” said Kavezembua.
She said she started cooking when she was 11 and the favourite dish she likes to prepare is Sizzling Bison Steak-Fry. According to Kavezembua, what she loves most about cooking is that, it makes her creative and sharpens her ability to multitask. “Cooking requires you to be creative and I love how this creativity brings out the best in me, because at the end of the day I get to produce a delicious meal,” she said. Kavezembua adds that her love for cooking has played a major role in her organisational skills, hygiene and the ability to save resources.
Kavezembua has competed in numerous cooking competitions before and points out the National WorldSkills Competition which took place at Ramatex last year as one of her highlights. Kavezembua was also one of the competitors who competed in the chef competition hosted by the Namibia Chef Association recently. “Being part of these big cooking competitions has taught me a lot and in future I wish to take part in the Chopped cooking competition in South Africa,” she says.
Kavezembua also said that she is grateful for the opportunity granted to her by WorldSkills Namibia to represent Namibia in the cooking competition at international level. “I never knew I would one day be listed as a competitor for this type of competition and for that I am thankful and I hope to do my best to make my family and country proud,” said Kavezembua. She says she is impressed by the support her family and friends have rendered to her and that her wish is to make them all proud. “Being in my position as a WorldSkills competitor is tough because it comes with a lot of expectations, so to have family and friends routing for me is something I do not take for granted,” she said.
Kavezembua shared that in the near future she wants to enrol at Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) to pursue her level 7 in her trade. “After completing my course at Nust I want to become one of the professional chefs in Namibia in order for me to fulfil my dream of becoming a teacher and mentor rookie chef,” she said. Kavezembua warned those who would like to pursue a career in the hospitality industry that the license to make it in this field is hard work. “If you want to make it far in the hospitality industry then you should be ready to work long hours and be able to take criticism from other people regarding your work because most people think hospitality is only cooking which is not the case,” she cautioned. Currently, Kavezembua is busy preparing for the WorldSkills Competition which will take place in Abu Dhabi from October 14-19 2017. “In that country I want to perform to the best of my abilities in order to make my country, mentor and family proud when I will become one of the winners,” she assured.
MICHAEL KAYUNDE
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