Marty noticed Toni’s high stress level and asked her what he could do to help. Toni broke down into tears before she could answer. Marty then discovered that she hadn’t received any word of approval of her work, and went to Toni’s boss to tell him about the situation.

“A few words of praise for the rest of the staff could only help,” Marty told him. The boss acted immediately on his suggestion and called all employees into the conference room after an hour of talking to Toni in his office. On the table were sweets and coffee, and he proceeded to tell each person his appreciation of what they had accomplished.

Since then, the boss would praise an employee when a job was well done. Toni became the company’s vice-president and stayed in the company. “The boss learned a valuable lesson which he’s never forgotten,” Marty said.

The children in Cateura grew better at playing musical instruments. Favio then came up with an idea to form an orchestra. The orchestra started small with a few members that grew to over thirty-five. It gave a new meaning to the life of the children and their families in the small town. The Recycled Orchestra became famous not only in Paraguay but also in other countries in South America. Their concerts in Brazil and Colombia were a great success. The group plays the classical music of Beethoven and Mozart. “We are doing the impossible. The world sends us garbage. We send back music,” Favio says.

Movie producer Juliana Penaranda discovered the group and created the movie “Landfill Harmonic.” The film features Favio, Nicolas, and the children. The movie made a big difference to the people of Cateura, and raised awareness of global issues using the poverty and garbage management in the country. Some donated real instruments to the children, but Favio wants to use the recycled ones to learn more about the poverty in Cateura.

Last summer, we saw a boy building a sandcastle at the beach. He approached his task seriously and worked hard gathering sand. After about half an hour, he had a large heap of it and began patting it into a low building with great effort.

He went to his father once satisfied with the results. “Charlie, you’ve made a great castle. I think it’s the best on the beach,” his dad praised him. His father’s compliment made him the happiest boy in the world, and it reminded us of the power of praise. Sadly, adults receive so little.

We thought back to a story our friend Marty had shared with us. Marty is a management consultant hired by a start-up Internet company. The people were too busy and stressed out, causing many disputes among them.

One of the key members of the technical staff, Toni, had been working for 14 hours a day, seven days a week. She had told Marty that she had received several job offers and was tempted to take one. Marty then asked if he could do anything to keep her in the company.

Cateura is one of the poorest towns in Paraguay, located outside of its capital, Asunción. The town has a huge landfill, receiving tons of waste from the capital city every day. The people in town make a living by selling “valuable” things from the trash.

The children in the town grow up in a harsh environment. Their parents made their children work, so they could not go to school. Favio Chávez, a musician and social worker in Cateura, saw many children in the landfill and felt he needed to do something.

He has always loved music, so he started giving the children music lessons to keep them distracted and out of trouble. However, there was one problem; Chávez only had five instruments, and the children were too poor to buy their own. In Cateura, violins cost more than houses.

Favio sought help from his friend Nicolas, who collects trash and recycles them. Nicolas created musical instruments from trash: he made oilcans into violins, pipes and spoons into flutes, and packing boxes into guitars. “I never imagined making instruments. I was glad that the kids liked them,” said Nicolas.