A young musician carrying a violin case in Paraguay makes her way to rehearsal(彩排).What's inside the case, however, is no ordinary violin. It's made from a salad bowl, a CD, and large pieces of wood.
The violinist, Ada Rios, 13, is a member of the Orchestra of Instruments Recycled from Cateura, a group of teen musicians whose instruments are made from the trash near their village. Cateura, just outside Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, is a poor area built on a very large landfill (垃圾填埋地).Cateura is home to 2, 500 families, with 20 teens in the orchestra. They play everything from the classical works of Beethoven to Beatles' songs.
Now the orchestra is attracting world-wide attention.The musicians are being filmed for a documentary, Land-fill Harmonic.The film will show how people in Cateura turn trash into instruments, and the effect that being part of an orchestra can have on kids.
In Paraguay, nearly 35 percent of the population lives in poverty (贫穷).In Cateura, a real musical instrument costs more than a house, says Favio Chavez, the orchestra's founder. About 1, 500 tons of waste are left at the landfill each day, and the people there earn a living searching through the garbage for things they can recycle and sell.
Chavez started teaching music in Cateura five years ago as a way to keep kids out of trouble. When he needed more instruments, he asked the landfill workers if they could build some from the trash. First, the men repaired a broken drum. Next, they built a guitar . The orchestra took off from there.
The group has already performed in Brazil and Colombia.The teens will travel to Arizona this year to play at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Ada says music has already changed her life."When I listen to the sound of a violin, I feel excited, "she says.