Two years ago Ncedo Ngomba, 14, was homeless on the streets of Cape Town, sniffing glue with other street children.
He survived cold nights on concrete and constant fighting with his peers for food and shelter. But he had a change of heart after two years and moved to the Homestead, a children's shelter in the city centre.
Today Ncedo not only has a roof over his head, but he has turned his life around and is involved in a number of projects. From education to sport and music, these projects have helped him develop. But there is one project that is especially close to Ncedo's heart: the Steelband Project Western Cape, which teaches music to youngsters from poor communities.
Watching the young, talented Ncedo play drums, one cannot help but sway to the music he creates together with the steel pans and mallets his group uses.
Ncedo, a pupil at the Learn to Live educational programme at the Salesians Institute in Green Point, is part of a group that includes about 16 former street children, but he is the only one who has really mastered the instrument.
The music teacher and the founder of the project, David Wickham, is impressed with Ncedo's talents.
"Ncedo joined the project early last year. After watching him play drums we could see he had potential and decided to send him to a drum school, the Jazz Workshop, which he attended for about two months, to get more skills in drum playing. He is a really talented boy," he said.
Wickham started the project about nine years ago. The project uses instruments made from recycled materials. The steel pans are made from oil drums and produce a range of sound qualities using different playing techniques.
With about 36 bands across the Western Cape, the project's youngsters travel to different venues to perform in concerts, at functions and to entertain tourists.
Wickham's work with street children and poor schools is funded by a Dutch organisation, Chance 4 All, as well as GrandWest and the Laser Group.
Wickham works with guitarist Kenny Gibe at schools including Langa High, Manenberg High, Intlanganiso High in Khayelitsha and St Louis Primary in Langa.
They've also worked at better-resourced schools in the southern suburbs and the Atlantic seaboard, but "targeted disadvantaged areas because it's where you find the schools that don't have enough resources".
Wickham continued: "We use steel drums because these are relatively cheap and therefore lots of people can get access to them. They're also easy to learn to play and can be taught to large groups."
Students don't only learn how to play the drums but also benefit from other interpersonal skills such as teamwork and the confidence they gain from playing to large groups of people .
"The project is helping these youngsters in many ways," said Wickham. "Travelling to different venues exposes them to varied audiences and they get to meet people they wouldn't normally meet. This gives them the tools for confidence and artistic expression.
"They learn to play in a performance, they listen and they learn to co-operate with others because they play as a group. The youngsters that stay with us have a lot of confidence."
The children play a variety of music, but focus mainly on African jazz and kwaito.
"We do all sorts of music, but we do songs they like," said Wickham. "You see, you've got to teach them something that appeals to them, especially in the beginning stages, otherwise they will get bored and lose interest."
Talented Ncedo, who lived in Delft before moving to the streets, said: "I love music... especially playing drum kits. I didn't know anything about music, I just loved dancing. But when I saw the steelband group in my school (the Salesians Institute), I asked if I could join.
"I was more interested in the drum kit so David asked me to try it. It didn't take me long to learn how to play it. I've enjoyed it since then. I have been playing for more than a year now and I love it."
But the band may one day lose Ncedo to soccer. He recently returned home from England where he was part of a soccer tour organised by the Homestead, and has dreams of one day being a professional soccer player.