Tshepo Tlapu, a former elite cricket prospect, spiralled into addiction, homelessness and life on a dumpsite before finding his way back. Today, he's a mentor, educator and counsellor.

If you happen to be in Orlando West on a Saturday morning you might hear children's laughter and shouts of "Badoo! Badoo!" drifting on the warm, clear air. Follow the sound through the streets and you'll enter the grounds of the Ikageng Itireleng Aids Ministry - you'll know you're there when you get to the playground and trampoline. Then, through the windows of one of the buildings, you'll see it: a classroom of children doing strange dance moves, removing one of their shoes, and singing about peanut butter.

You wouldn't know it, but minutes earlier these same children were sitting in a lesson, listening bright-eyed, hands shooting up in unison when asked a question. At one point you might even spot the moment one of them - a girl with neat braids - actually corrects the teacher. "You missed the apostrophe on that word," she says, pointing to the whiteboard.

The man who sparked the joyous disruption - the running, the shouts of "Banana!" "Spiderman!" "Superman!" - is Tshepo Tlapu, who works as an educator, mentor and substance abuse counsellor at Ikageng. The games - "Icebreakers" - are largely his invention, and were created to make learning fun.

But it...