IN Bañado de Tacumbú, a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Asunción, the hope for a better future passes through music. The population of this neighbourhood is mostly young, with a low level of education. The houses are built with very precarious materials and there are poor sanitation conditions. Bañado de Tacumbú is in fact located on the banks of the Paraguay River and due to the lack of infrastructure, it has suffered severe floods causing havoc among its population.
In this context, in 2012, Fr Germán Pravia started a music school. At first, there were eleven students, two guitars for all, and a few wood instruments. They assembled, if necessary for rehearsals, in their own homes. Over time, many other young people joined so that a real Bañado de Tacumbú Youth Orchestra was formed.
The Orchestra now has about fifty motivated and passionate young people, between the ages of 13 and 25, and is made up of guitars, violins, cellos, transverse flutes, saxophones, clarinets, horns and percussion. They find in it an opportunity for personal growth and social redemption and the possibility, thanks to music, to imagine a different and possible future for their lives.