Queen Elizabeth to honour former Durbanite
THE last thing specialist dietitian Penny Kaye expected was a letter from St James’s Palace.
This week, the former Durban resident said she felt “very emotional” when she opened it and discovered she would receive an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in May from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth for dedication to her work with cancer patients.
Kaye is an alumnus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where she graduated with a BSc Dietetics degree, and a postgraduate diploma in 1991.
Kaye, whose family, including her mother, Ethel, live in Kloof, said she felt humbled by the honour. She moved to the UK in 1996 and currently works at the East Sussex Healthcare Trust as an advanced specialist oncology dietitian.
Speaking from the UK this week, she said: “I have to put this down to my parents, who instilled in me a strong moral compass and work ethic which I applied to my passion for dietetics, and always driving the service I provide to my patients first.”
Having gone to Convent High School (now known as Holy Family College) in Glenmore, Kaye said she loved biology and home economics and always knew she wanted to work in a caring profession.
“I found out about dietetics in my matric year and after going to the taster day at UKZN’s Pietermaritzburg campus, I was convinced this was the profession for me to pursue.
“I absolutely loved being a student and the more I progressed through my undergraduate years, the more I knew I had found my niche.”
Her first job was at Northdale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg before going travelling overseas for a year. She then spent a year at Grey’s Hospital before moving to the UK, where she worked for the National Health Service. As a specialist in oncology dietetics, Kaye said she worked closely with cancer patients from diagnosis.
“Dietary management in oncology plays a key role in supporting people living with and beyond cancer by assessing and managing the effects of cancer treatment and reducing the risk of malnutrition or secondary cancers and other conditions through appropriate counselling and support.”
Kaye and her husband, Andy, and 18-year-old daughter, Alice, visit South Africa as often as possible.
Yesterday, Kaye’s mother, Ethel Burns, said: “I am just so very proud of Penny’s achievements as her late father would have been. She has dedicated her working life to dietetics and I know she has helped so many patients.”
UKZN’s head of department for dietetics and human nutrition, Dr Suna Kassier, said the university was “very proud that such an honour has been bestowed on one of our past students”.
“When we walk past Mrs Kaye’s final-year class photo in the corridor of dietetics and human nutrition, we will all stop for a moment in anticipation of May 2.” That is the day Kaye will stand before the queen.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire was instituted in 1917 by King George V, originally for recognition of civilian and military service, although now the honour is bestowed for meritorious service to the government whether in peace or wartime.