Submitted. A group of teenagers playing instruments made from trash found on a landfill in Cateura, Paraguay is coming to Canada to raise funds to create a better future for their community – including concerts in Chilliwack and Abbotsford.
Pictured at right is the man in the community of Cateura, Paraguay who makes the instruments.
Global Family Foundation, a Canadian Christian charity, is hosting The Recycled Orchestra for a cross-Canada tour this April and May with events in churches in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and B.C.
The tour will raise awareness and funds to build a Community Education Centre in Cateura, home of The Recycled Orchestra and considered one of the poorest slums in South America.
More than 2,500 families live directly by the landfill, picking garbage to find sellable or recyclable goods.
But in the middle of the rubble lies hope.
Turning metal drums, oil cans, spoons, copper pipes, wire and bottle caps into cellos, violins, guitars and flutes, The Recycled Orchestra is proving that despite their circumstances, the community has something beautiful to offer.
After a documentary crew posted an online trailer of The Recycled Orchestra last year, the video went viral.
Today, the Recycled Orchestra is making headlines around the world, including a recent feature on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
“The world sends us garbage, but we send back music,” says Favio Chavez, director of the orchestra.
“People are starting to realize that you shouldn’t throw away trash carelessly. Now, they starting to realize that you shouldn’t throw away people either.”
After meeting with stakeholders and families in Cateura, Global Family Foundation has committed to co-invest with the community to build a Community Education Centre and start a scholarship fund so youth in the area have a have a chance to get a quality education.
The center will act as a social hub in the neighbourhood, offering workshops and courses to families to improve education, family life and livelihoods.
It will also have space for The Recycled Orchestra to practice and offer music classes for children interested in learning an instrument.
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Pictured above is Favio Chavez,the Director of the Recycled Orchestra.
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The long-term goal is to partner with the Cateura community to build a school, since there is a dire need for access to quality education.
“Talent is evenly distributed, no matter your circumstance, but opportunity is not,” says Mike Duerksen from Global Family Foundation.
“This is about creating opportunity for an incredibly resourceful and resilient community that is living on the margins. Helping their children get a quality education will not only improve their economic situation, but it will also allow them re-invest into their families and community to start breaking the cycle of inherited generational poverty.”
All concerts are free of charge, with a freewill donation going toward the construction of the Community Education Centre and scholarship fund.
About Global Family Foundation
Global Family Foundation is a Canadian charity dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty in Latin America through quality education, helping children get off the streets and into a classroom to become leaders that create change from within.
Please click here for more information, or contact Mike Duerksen by email or at 204.688.4927. |
Concert Dates
Chilliwack, B.C. – Thursday, May 8th
With Calvin Dyck and the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra
Broadway Community Church
46611 Maple Ave., Chilliwack
7:00 p.m.
Abbotsford, B.C. – Sunday, May 11th
With Calvin Dyck and the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra
Central Heights Church
1661 McCallum Road, Abbotsford
3:00 p.m.