Landfill Harmonic

On Saturday evening I went to see the film, Landfill Harmonic, at the Cinema Village. I had first heard of this very unusual orchestra of children on a 60 Minute episode two years ago. The episode had me in tears, but some of what I felt was the amazing perseverance and resilience of this group of young people. Favio Chavez first visited Asuncion several years ago, an environmental scientist who hoped to correct the hazards of living on top of a landfill. Literally, this area is built on a garbage site, and everything is polluted, including the water. The area is impoverished and even dangerous because of the abundance of garbage. When Chavez realized he could not correct the environment, he had another brainstorm-to recruit a carpenter from the area who could create instruments from the garbage. Using pipes,  discarded cartons, broken wood, forks, spoons, and string, he created instruments: a cello, violins, flutes, a drum (whose top skin was a discarded x-ray)-all refuse, and every instrument imaginable. Chavez opened up free lessons to the children of the community, and then started a small orchestra. Since this time, the children-whose parents have never traveled beyond their small space in the universe, have traveled all over the world, and this music has changed their lives in so many ways. There is nothing more moving than seeing the children perform for their families, and watching the laughter and tears from PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, SIBLINGS. The wife of the carpenter says how rich she is because they have farm animals outside their small plot of land. That garbage makes music and makes children so happy and so fulfilled. It really questions how much our Western world has children who have so much, and yet continue to want more. These children, playing their music, have the gift of God's Grace, and this movie and the music are truly an inspiration!