Clancy Tucker's Blog: 20 October 2014 - LANDFILL HARMONIC

LANDFILL HARMONIC

- AMAZING KIDS -

G'day folks,

Today I present another feature on amazing kids. Make sure you watch the video at the end of this post.

There are lots of poor kids living in Latin America. But, some do exceptional things. Today’s feature is about a film being made, including kids who scrounged from their local landfill.

The story develops in one of the poorest slums in Latin America. Just outside Asuncion, Paraguayans capital; Cateura is the city’s trash dump. It is built on a landfill. Here, people live in a sea of garbage. And they live from garbage. Every day, tons of rotting detritus spill from trucks and people swarm over it to pick the pieces of trash that are their livelihood.

The people of Cateura may be the poorest of the poor but they are proud and the life of their slum is vibrant. Family bonds, rivalries and friendships are intense.

Surrounded by stories of drug-violence, alcoholism and destitution, they make herculean efforts to reaffirm their life and dignity.

A few years ago, one of the garbage pickers, “Cola”, an untutored genius of the slum, got together with local musician Favio Chávez to make instruments for the children of the slum. There was no money for real instruments so together they started to make instruments from trash – violins and cellos from oil drums, flutes from water pipes and spoons, guitars from packing crates.

With children like Ada and Tania and with the support of many in the slum, Favio slowly put together one of the world’s most unlikely orchestras. It is entirely made of garbage. They call it “The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura”.

MISSION

To produce a film that brings awareness on poverty, music education and recycling. To activate and inspire social change on these key issues around the world. To demonstrate that creative and simple solutions can bring powerful social transformations to the poorest communities.

Too many children in the world are born into lives with little or no hope. Our film reveals a mind-boggling, inventive effort to change that - musical instruments made from trash.

The film follows the amazing journey of a garbage picker, a music teacher and a group of children who create the most unlikely orchestra, one made entirely out of trash.

With larger than life characters, Landfill Harmonic is moving, entertaining and surprising; but it retains a serious subtext, that of poverty and garbage. A heartfelt & moving journey of how creativity can bring hope to children whose future is otherwise spiritless.

Cateura, Paraguay, is a town essentially built on top of a landfill. Garbage collectors browse the trash for sellable goods, and children are often at risk of getting involved with drugs and gangs.

Landfill Harmonic shows how trash and recycled materials can be transformed into beautiful sounding musical instruments, but more importantly, it brings witness to the transformation of precious human beings.

They began production in 2010 and the film is currently in post-production. CVF Involvement: Creative Visions Foundation (CVF) provided Landfill Harmonic with production and outreach services from project inception including pro-bono legal, public relations, and strategic partnerships. CVF raised funds through individual donations and foundations and helped market the online trailer that reached more than 11 million people. Additionally, Landfill Harmonic has been featured in other CAP member newsletters, and was invited to present at TEDx San Diego through CVF.