PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

An impoverished Paraguayan community located in a landfill is the proud home of an orchestra that uses musical instruments fashioned from trash. The unique ensemble is the brainchild of Favio Chávez, an ecological technician who figured out how to build violins, flutes, and cellos from oil drums, jars, and discarded wood and metal, and encouraged children from the slum town of Cateura to learn music. The orchestra is the subject of a stirring new documentary, Landfill Harmonic. “Even though these students are in extreme poverty, they can also contribute to society,” said Chávez. “They deserve an opportunity.”