Homeless man gets off the streets by selling books.

Philani Dladla was a young man living on the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, addicted to drugs, and with little to look forward in his future.

Except he had books.

Books were Dladla's first great love. At 12-years of age he was given a book from his mother's employer--an elderly gentleman who she took care of. The book, as he tells on his website, was The Last White Parliament, a 175-page nonfiction book that was extremely difficult for the young boy to understand, especially since it was written in English--not his first language.

But the book stirred something in him. When the elderly man died, he left nearly 500 books for Dladla, which became a mini library for him as he grew up. Later, he moved, got a job as a caretaker like his mother had been, and moved to Johannesburg.



In his twenties, Dladla says he fell in with the wrong crowd. As he tells Nalibali.org, "I got too comfortable and I started experimenting with drugs. I suppose I did it to fit in with my new friends. Johannesburg is a tough place."

He became homeless, spending night after night wandering the streets and looking for a fix. Life became a series of miseries.

Except he had his books.

Dladla started selling books to random people as a means to earn money, earning the nickname The Pavement Bookworm--and something changed. "With some self-motivation and a lot of self-help books, I made the decision to stop taking drugs," he says on his website. He saved his money, eventually earning enough to rent out a room, then an apartment. Then, with a new life ahead of him, he decided he wanted to help children learn the love of reading as well.

Dladla started a book club at a nearby park, where he gives free books to young people. The only rule is that they must come back to the park at a later date and tell him what they learned. Twenty-six people from the park have joined, from ages 12-to-28. "There are some kids who take books and never come back, but I don’t let that dampen my spirit," he says on his site. "Because I know there are many more who love to read and who will use books as weapons to fight poverty."

His effort is spreading. In August he was invited to hold a TEDx Talk, and with the launch of his website, he now accepts donated books to try and expand the reach of reading. "For me, reading is a weapon of choice to fight social challenges. If you read, you think,” he tells Nalibali.

And he has some parting words of advice for the wealthy:

"Maybe if they knew, they would think twice about buying that new car and maybe give the schools some computers. It doesn’t take a lot to put a smile on these children’s faces. And they will never forget your face if you give them something. People out there forget that these guys are human."