Children of Paraguay making music from recycled materials



Picture from Paste Magazine

At least 25,000 families in Cateura, Paraguay make a living by rummaging through the garbage dump.  Life is bleak at best for those so impoverished.  Maybe there is a way out of this dire place with music.  Music is said to calm the savage beast.  Poverty can push people into debilitating activities such as alcohol and drug abuse when one feels that their life has no hope.
 

Picture from Paper Blog

Favio Chavez, a social worker and a music teacher, started the chamber orchestra of about 20 children called, "The Orchestra of Instruments Recycled from Cateura." He opened a small music school at the landfill about five years ago.  He wanted to provide a way out of the landfill for the children.  Chavez asked e of the the trash-pickers, Nicholas Gomez, to help with making the instruments.  The instruments are made with cans, forks, bowls, and a myriad of discarded items.  Things that were considered useless became of use again by shaping them into musical instruments.  These children are finding the meaning of life through music. Bringing hope when there didn't seem to be any. It is not material things that matter the most but the knowledge we have gained through our life experiences.  This is a beautiful story.