He peered around the corner, too frightened to go into the room. Slowly, a smile spread across his tiny face and eventually, curiosity got the better of Mark Owino.

Within a couple of minutes, he was banging away on the giant drum kit as though it was his own.

But it's not.

Gallery: A second chance at life

About the only thing Mark owns is a painful past. That and an incredible spirit.

His ability to overcome has brought him from Nairobi, Kenya, to this small music studio in Eagle Farm, Brisbane, that's home to the southern hemisphere's biggest drum kit.

Home is a strange concept for Mark. He's spent most of his short life on the streets. One of 60,000 children fighting to survive in the capital of the African nation.

"Life was hard," he tells me in a voice so quiet I can barely hear. "There was no food, no good bed."

His mother is a prostitute. She's infected with HIV. And she has two other children.

His father was also homeless. Five years ago he was caught shoplifting. Security forces made him lie down on the footpath. Then shot him three times in the back. Mark watched him die.

Mark was left to fend for himself, on Nairobi's dangerous streets. An unforgiving place, a world of drugs, violence and HIV. He survived by begging for food and money. But he was competing with so many others. So he learnt basic acrobatics. Backflips and somersaults to draw a crowd. Then he learnt how to play the "tins".

Like so many others on the streets, Mark would almost surely have died young.

Until he grabbed the side mirror of a van driving through a roundabout and pleaded for some food. The driver was Peter Nduati. He runs Immanuel Africa - an orphanage for street children.

"I was touched because he was young," says Peter. "I thought we would give him a chance and a second shot at life."

So he befriended the young boy. Convinced him that if he gave up the bottle of glue he was holding, he could have a future.

Today, Mark has beaten his habit. And his history. He helps draw other street boys into the orphanage. He studies hard at school. And works even harder on his drumming. His dream is to be a musician and earn enough money to help his mother escape the slums.

He's already playing to raise money. That's why he's in Brisbane.

Local charity, African Equity, brought him out, as the headline act for its annual gala. It's a big change for a kid who's never seen the beach, an aeroplane or even the inside of a supermarket.

But Mark was born to perform. He kept in perfect rhythm for the dancers - from another Kenyan orphanage, supported by African Equity. Drumming up support and making hearts beat in the ballroom of the Hilton Hotel, as though he'd been doing it all his life.

When he plays, Mark wears a big smile.

At the back of the room a man stands alone and watches with a smile just as big.

He's Chris Anderson, one of Brisbane's most successful businessmen. A multi-millionaire builder who wanted to give something back. African Equity was his brainchild.

It's a charity that doesn't do hand-outs. Instead, donated goods are shipped over to Kenya. Unemployed residents take the goods on consignment, and sell them. They keep a share of the profits, the rest goes back into the orphanages.

Chris is smiling because tonight, has been a success. Mark has just helped him raise thousands more dollars, that will reach more vulnerable children.

Perhaps they will be able to share a similar story of survival.. a story Mark tells with child-like honesty.

"I used to sniff glue, my father was shot in the streets, but now I am happy. I am going to school, I sleep well and I eat well."

Update: Thanks to the work of African Equity Mark is now being sponsored through the child sponsorship program. His basic needs of food, clothing, accommodation and schooling are being met. A second donor is also paying for Mark to continue music lessons on his return to Nairobi.

To learn more about African Equity visit: www.african-equity.com