The recycled orchestra

by Krystofer Penner | Published 12th January 2013 in Ways of Seeing

The gift of music is something that many take for granted. In the Western world, access to musical instruments and training is fairly easy to come by. But in places like Cateura, Paraguay it is the opposite.

Cateura, Paraguay is a slum that is literally built on a landfill. The majority of its residents make their living by recycling trash that is brought there, and this doesn’t allow for spare money to purchase instruments for children, which are apparently more valuable than a house in this neighbourhood.

So instead instruments that are found in the landfill are repaired, and new instruments are constructed out of garbage. These instruments are then given to children, who make up the Recycled Orchestra. Watch for the film when it is released later this year.