While working as an ecological
technician at the Cateura Landfill, the largest garbage dump of
Paraguay’s capital Asunción, Favio Chávez got to know and
befriended some of the 2,500 impoverished families who lived at the
garbage dump working as recyclers. Witnessing the rampant illiteracy,
extreme poverty, pollution and surrounding culture of drugs and
gangs, Chávez became acutely aware that the children needed
something positive in their lives – something to keep them out of
the landfill and striving for something more.
Having previously been a music teacher,
Favio decided to share his love of music with the children, and began
teaching music lessons using the handful of personal instruments he
owned. He soon realised there wasn’t enough instruments for all the
eager students, so he started experimenting with making instruments
using scraps of dirty oilcans, jars, wood, forks and other junk in
the Cateura landfill, the instruments began to take shape and become
finely tuned musical instruments - violins, flutes, cellos, drums…all
made from trash. From this ingenuity, the “Recycled Orchestra”
was formed with the local children as its members learning and
performing Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.
So far, Chavez has taught music skills
to over 120 children, inspiring hope, confidence and an awakening of
passions within the children and their families who are now beginning
to believe in a future beyond the slums of the landfill. The youth
orchestra, now 30 members strong, has performed throughout the world
and is the subject of the upcoming documentary Landfill Harmonic - to be shown at Zurich Film Festival on Sunday (27th Sep)
