I have been a musician all my life. The bass guitar, keyboards, and especially, the guitar have been my mainstays. Through life’s ups and downs, music is the one true friend. A language everyone understands, a means to express emotion and sometimes, an escape from the real world. Music has kept my spirit alive and feeds my soul. Apparently, I am not alone.

There is a slum in Paraguay built on a landfill. 60 Minutes recently did a piece on Cateura you will enjoy.  The people are so poor that they rifle through the trash and garbage and make a living selling what treasures they may find. The children of the village play music with instruments they fabricate from trash. Violins, flutes, cellos, clarinets, and the like. Here they are with Beethoven’s Symphony No.#5 in Amsterdam, Holland. Unbelievable!

I have lived overseas in foreign countries and in some places… they will sell their daughters for a pack of smokes and cut your throat for your wristwatch or cell phone. In America, we know little of that kind of poverty, no matter how poor we think we are. Open sewers, low mortality rate, and as with most places in the world, the few live well at the expense of the many, who barely get enough food to eat.

When Metallica toured in Chile, they invited The Landfilharmonic Orchestra to play ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and open for the band. Words cannot express the emotion from the stage, from the crowd, and from you…. watch.

This is a story that makes me both sad and happy, all at once. Others have taken notice and there is a Landfillharmonic Orchestra website, a short film, and even a world tour for these kids who dare to have a dream and reach for it.

It makes me feel proud, like a parent might. Please, watch and listen and participate. Teach a child to play and teach them how to dream.