Collaboration Of Imagination
Posted by Michelle Moquin on December 21st, 2013
Good morning!
The Landfill Harmonic
Feeling powerless to help others? A single selfless act is all it takes to make music out of misery.
The source of inspiration can often be found in the most unlikely place. One of those unlikely places is a landfill in the slums of Cateura, Paraguay.
In 2009, a documentary filmmaking crew stumbled upon a local garbage picker who was making instruments from items found in a landfill. Nicolás Gómez, who goes by Cola, made flutes out of pipes and cellos from tin cans and meat tenderizers.
A community like Cateura is not a place to have a violin,” said Favio Chávez, director of the Recycled Orchestra. “In fact, a violin is worth more than a house here.”
Favio Chávez, a music instructor, started teaching the local children how to play classical music on these recycled instruments. From there, the Recycled Orchestra was born.
This collaboration of imagination and ingenuity gave the children of Cateura, a place where misery is high and opportunity is low, hope for a better life. “The world sends us garbage,” Chávez says. “We send back music.”
Chávez and his youth orchestra are now receiving invitations to play concerts all across the globe and plans are already underway for a world tour. With the Landfill Harmonic documentary trailer spreading through social media, the Recycled Orchestra is inspiring millions by showing how far the power of music and hope can take you when you have nowhere to go but up.
Watch it:
Readers: Simply wonderful yes? It is amazing to me how someone can make something incredible out of what most of us would consider nothing more than junk. I am continually blown away by people who can create the extraordinary out of the ordinary…who can see the possibilities that no one else can…and more importantly, they follow their vision, and they have a profound positive affect on people’s lives.
Big kudos of congrats goes to Nicolás Gómez for his vision and talent in making these instruments, and to Favio Chávez, the music instructor, for bringing this Orchestra to life.
Blog me and let me know if you have seen The Landfill Harmonic play.
On a side note, I was sent this write by a resource of mine. The funny thing is, I discovered this fun and inspiring piece of news also in a new magazine that was sent to me. I love this magazine. It is called Live Happy.
If you haven’t picked up a copy you might just want to buy a subscription for yourself and one for a few friends. (Disclaimer: no I am not getting anything from saying this – I just like the idea of it) There is a happiness movement that has been going on and it is gaining speed. This magazine focuses on living life with a more positive attitude…choosing happiness, and watch how your happiness becomes contagious and ripples into other people’s lives.
That is it in a simple nutshell but in my opinion it is much more. No doubt I will be blogging more about this in the new year.
Happy Saturday everyone!
Peace & Love to you.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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December 21st, 2013 at 1:14 pm
Happy Birthday My Love, where ever You may be.
xoxo
http://www.orderlyrandomness.com/blog/2013/12/21/high-holy-day/
PrP
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:31 am
Happy Holidays Everyone! Here’s a delicacy from Guam you can try. It’s called Boñelos dågu, or yam doughnuts, are Guam’s signature Christmastime confection.
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20131219/LIFESTYLE/312190009/Guam-s-Christmas-doughnut-Crisp-fluffy-bo-ntilde-elos-d-aring-gu
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:35 am
Loved that story Michelle. And I definitely was hooked after the first minute.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:38 am
Thank you Michelle for highlighting our story. Here is a different link. It shows more of our instruments, and some of our goals.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/405192963/landfill-harmonic-inspiring-dreams-one-note-at-a-t
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:41 am
Thank You, Michelle! I googled Bebi’s cello landfillharmonic. I had to know what that music was! It is played so beautifully.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:41 am
Michelle that was such an inspirational story. Can’t wait to see the documentary. People can contribute to this orchestra’s needs (which are many) here: https://gocampaign.org/project…
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:42 am
Michelle, that was astounding and heart-lifting. It brought this old retired musician to tears.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:43 am
Most of the youth of the world when given the opportunity can do something with their life.
What happens in their environment if they have everything and want to do nothing is what the United States is faced with today. I am glad I was born poor. Life is so easy for people who know how to, and want to work.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:45 am
There is an excellent 12 minutes. Some of it repeats this, but the rest is definitely worth the stay.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:47 am
Orquesta con Instrumentos de material reciclado, como decia el maestro Szaran ” la Musica es la Sonrisa del alma, melodias de la Basura que conmueven el corazón”, sencillamente espectacular, como de la basura, resurge el Arte, en un mundo tan convulsionado y tan mediatico, esto es una revolución, en vez de poner de moda, el celular, la ropa, poner de moda la INTELIGENCIA, lo importante es copiar la creatividad y no lo material.
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Instruments Orchestra with recycled material, as I said the teacher Mr Szaran “Music is the soul Smile, chords Trash to Open the Heart” simply spectacular, and the trash resurfaces Art, in such troubled world and as mediatico, this is a revolution, rather than to fashion, cell phones, clothing, fashion add INTELLIGENCE, how important is creativity and not copy the material.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:48 am
Such an inspirational video…I love seeing these kids interested in something creative like music….wow, and they make them from the trash…Keep up the good work!
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:49 am
Hope and love on so many levels!! This is what it’s all about!
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:49 am
These kids are inspirational, a window into the nature of the common joy that music can bring.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:49 am
The beauty of music can touch the hearts and ingenuity of the mind. These kids are an inspiration to all. Merci!
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:50 am
The instruments may be rubbish but the music certainly isn’t!
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:51 am
Realmente conmovedor. Y pensar que la gente se queja por tantas estupideces, mientras estos muchachos, sin ningún tipo de posibilidades, tienen la voluntad y el ingenio de crear magia sacando notas celestiales a través de sus rudimentarios instrumentos.
Gracias por la lección, aún nos queda mucho por aprender.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:51 am
MARAVILLOSO TU COMENTARIO Y LO COMPARTO COMPLETAMENTE
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:52 am
Por favor, ponédselo a vuestros hijos, yo lo haré con los míos. Quizá algún día comprendamos que en el tercer mundo no viven los diminutos liliputienses del hambre sino gigantes del amor y la esperanza.
Y nosotros, como Gulliver, hagamos un viaje hacia la dimensión real de las cosas.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:52 am
My heart is filled with love and cheers with joy when I see those kids. Give them professional instruments and they’ll flourish and achieve even higher levels.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:54 am
Sending love to you from Tokyo, Japan.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:55 am
This should inspire everyone who has nothing to do but kill each other, like in the Middle East and the gangs of the U.S. to put down their weapons and learn something from these kids.
Life is too precious to waste it by killing it. It should be rejoiced in.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:56 am
Maravilloso, sorprendente y emocionante…¡¡¡toda una lección de educación artística!! Gracias por compartir, un afectuoso saludo desde Madrid
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:56 am
I continue to be amazed how the power of the human spirit continues to shine even under the worst of circumstances. What an amazing story.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:56 am
Es magnifico!!!!
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:58 am
quanta gente meravigliosa esiste al mondo. allora si può cambiare, in meglio. grazie.
The world is worth living, with such amazing people. Thanks a lot Michelle for reminding us.
December 22nd, 2013 at 10:58 am
IMPRESIONANTE!!! FANTÁSTICO !!!!
December 22nd, 2013 at 11:02 am
I’ve received a lot of questions about the Guardsmen getting unemployment funding on Guam. So here is the story.
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Unemployment funding secured for returning Guardsmen
by Jolene Toves
Guam – With Guam’s returning soldiers becoming eligible for unemployment assistance, KUAM News takes a closer look at how the funding will be dispersed.
Now that funding has been secured for unemployed soldiers returning from deployment in Afghanistan the Guam Department of Labor, the Agency for Human Resources Development and the Guam National Guard met this afternoon to develop a plan of action.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Crisostomo said, “In a couple of days 600 soldiers will be returning to the United States from Afghanistan, 200 of them in the Guam National Guard are not employed. These 200 soldiers will now be able to apply for unemployment insurance in the state of Mississippi.”
Under the Unemployed Compensation for Ex-Service Members Program, Crisostomo says monetary assistance will be provided to soldiers who file their unemployment claims while at Camp Shelby. Department of Labor director Manny Cruz said, “We are going to allow them to file their claim in Mississippi when they get disembarked from deployment and then they could go home to Guam and then they could get their claims honored here.”
According to Duenas Guam’s soldiers will have eleven days in Mississippi to file their paperwork and can do so online, from their Guam DOL will validate their claims.
Once qualified the program will provide soldiers unemployment assistance for a period of 26 weeks at about $235 per week. “It’s an entitlement if they are unemployed the unemployment insurance is available to them,” the officer explained.
“At the end state is to get them into a sustainable skill into the employment market and eventually join the employment market here on Guam.”
Governor Eddie Calvo applauds the efforts of DOL and his support of the keep your guard up campaign, saying, “In putting out a program that never was available and was just putting heads together and coming up with this program again with this moving forward now we are going to be able to get unemployment compensation to 200-plus of our Guardsmen.”