Recycled orchestra brings hope to children in slum

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Change your stereotype that only rubbish and a high crime rate are found in slums! An orchestra has been born in a Paraguayan slum built on a landfill. The orchestra and their music are changing the community from the bottom up.

All of the music from Beethoven and Mozart to The Beatles is played on recycled instruments. The young musicians make them from trash .

The Orchestra of Recycled Instruments was born five years ago because they didn’t have money to buy instruments.

So they make guitars from cans, cellos from metal drums, using ingenuity to turn trash into treasure.

Orchestra saxophonist Andres Riveros said, "The instrument is made of galvanized pipe used in the gutters for houses. Then this is made with caps, coins and these are keys from doors."

The teacher, Favio Chavez, started the music group to keep the youth away from troubles like drugs, alcohol and violence. He wants the band to be a place for young people to learn values.

And it’s not just the children. The orchestra has had a positive effect on the parents and the whole community.

Orchestra director Favio Chavez said, "We’ve seen cases where parents with addiction problems have quit taking drugs to go their kid’s concert. And in a lot of cases the parents have gone back to finish school because their kids are being seen all over and they think, ’they are going forward, I want to, too.’ They’re not only changing their lives, but the lives of their families and their community."

The orchestra has gone abroad like to Brazil to perform. It’s a dream come true for the children who once never thought they’d leave the slum, let alone the country.

And a documentary film about the orchestra is being made.

Although many difficulties lie ahead, the children believe they and their community will have a different future, thanks to music.