Fresh from visiting Haiti on a charity mission, Shakira touched down in her native land, Colombia, to help with the construction of schools in the area of Cartagena de Indias. The project is run by Shakira’s own Barefoot foundation, which seeks to help vulnerable and impoverished children in Colombia. The project is currently being expanded, and now assists in both South Africa and Haiti.
Colombian pop sensation Shakira
The school itself is being built in Loma del Peye, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the region of Cartagena de Indias, and will accommodate 1,500 eager schoolchildren whose previous school was devastated in 2010 by an earthquake. Once complete, the school will boast science labs, sporting facilities and up-to-date technological and audiovisual centres.
Shakira’s high profile means that her work with Barefoot achieves a great deal of publicity, but it’s important to note that in Colombia there are many volunteers and charities working tirelessly to help make a difference to the lives of people in some of the poorest areas of Colombia. Charities such as Fundacion Rio Urbano, or volunteers that arrive from abroad to teach English, all seek to come together in order to provide opportunities for a better future to those in vulnerable situations.
As Shakira herself points out, some credit has to go to the government and local councils as they have identified areas such as Loma de Peye as high-risk and sought help, whereas, according to Shakira “a lot of other governments would have simply thrown into the waste basket”.
Read more about Shakira’s visit to Cartagena de Indias here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1376061/These-bricks-dont-lie-Shakira-lays-foundations-new-school-Colombia-help-1-500-impoverished-children.html#ixzz1JccnNqRL