Global star Shakira returned to her home country of Colombia to inaugurate the
8th school funded by her non-profit foundation Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet). The
school and community center, located in the low-income neighborhood of Lomas
del Peyé in Cartagena, a tourist destination on the Atlantic Coast of Colombia,
will serve 1,700 needy children ranging from day care to high school age.
“This is part of my advocacy: Promote access to universal education,” Shakira
told Billboard. The Lomás del Peyé school and community center, Shakira’s
sixth school in Colombia, continues her vision of making the school the center
of the community.
Hundreds of people lined the street leading to the school as Shakira walked up
from her car carrying Milan, her one-year-old son with FC Barcelona soccer star
Gerard Piqué. Young students from the new school greeted her and acted as
the hosts of the media-studded event, which was also attended by first lady Maria
Clemencia Rodríguez.
The Lomas del Peyé school, which also includes a library and community center,
was designed by Colombian architect Giancarlo Mazzanti and funded with help
from local Cartagena government, the Howard G Buffett Foundation, Fundación
Mario Santo Domingo, Fundación FC Barcelona, Fundación Pacific Rubiales
Energy, Ecopetrol, Colombian daily El Tiempo and the country’s Institute for
Child Welfare.
Shakira created her foundation in 1997, naming it after her hit album Pies Descalzos,
and by 2003 had launched a massive nutrition program for displaced and marginalized
children. In 2004, Pies Descalzos built its first school and community center in Chocó,
one of Colombia’s poorest states. To date, hundreds of students have graduated from
Pies Descalzos schools and many have gone on to college educations.
Source: Billboard
8th school funded by her non-profit foundation Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet). The
school and community center, located in the low-income neighborhood of Lomas
del Peyé in Cartagena, a tourist destination on the Atlantic Coast of Colombia,
will serve 1,700 needy children ranging from day care to high school age.
“This is part of my advocacy: Promote access to universal education,” Shakira
told Billboard. The Lomás del Peyé school and community center, Shakira’s
sixth school in Colombia, continues her vision of making the school the center
of the community.
Hundreds of people lined the street leading to the school as Shakira walked up
from her car carrying Milan, her one-year-old son with FC Barcelona soccer star
Gerard Piqué. Young students from the new school greeted her and acted as
the hosts of the media-studded event, which was also attended by first lady Maria
Clemencia Rodríguez.
The Lomas del Peyé school, which also includes a library and community center,
was designed by Colombian architect Giancarlo Mazzanti and funded with help
from local Cartagena government, the Howard G Buffett Foundation, Fundación
Mario Santo Domingo, Fundación FC Barcelona, Fundación Pacific Rubiales
Energy, Ecopetrol, Colombian daily El Tiempo and the country’s Institute for
Child Welfare.
Shakira created her foundation in 1997, naming it after her hit album Pies Descalzos,
and by 2003 had launched a massive nutrition program for displaced and marginalized
children. In 2004, Pies Descalzos built its first school and community center in Chocó,
one of Colombia’s poorest states. To date, hundreds of students have graduated from
Pies Descalzos schools and many have gone on to college educations.
Source: Billboard