Shakira visited Cartagena, Colombia on Monday, accompanied by the philanthropist Howard Buffett and the mayor of the city Judith Pinedo to lay the first brick of what will be Foundation Pies Descalzos' new mammoth school in an area of high vulnerability and displacement in this coastal city.
The project is set to become an urban milestone, a motor of change for 1,500 boys and girls who will benefit directly and 58,000 residents of the Cerro de Popa community.
The school and community center, designed by renowned architect Giancarlo Mazzanti, will be built on a site spanning 7,500 meters squared where students and parents will enjoy classrooms, laboratories, technology and audiovisual centers; multiple sporting fields, teachers and administration, as well as ample space for recreation, art and sports in accordance with the educational philosophy of Pies Descalzos.
Shakira said: “I know that the world, little by little will understand that wherever there is a kid who is hungry and can’t attend school…that kid should be a concern to all of us and our responsibility. I’m sure that this awareness will grow in each one of us, because the world has become a small neighborhood, and we should all be concerned about the issues that others have to face.”
Last week, the Inter-American Development Bank and Shakira's Pies Descalzos Foundation
announced in Port au Prince that they will support the
Haitian government in the reconstruction of the historic public school
in the Haitian capital. Check out our video from the trip, above.
The Inter-American Development Bank and Shakira's Pies Descalzos Foundation announced in Port au Prince yesterday that they will support the Haitian government in the reconstruction of the historic public school in the Haitian capital.
The Elie Dubois school, located in the center of Port au Prince, suffered serious damage due to the earthquake last year. The announcement of the contributions of a total of US$800,000 for reconstruction and new supplies to the school took place during a ceremony in the courtyard of the institution, with the participation of Haitian governmental authorities, guests of the international community, professors and students.
"Education is critical to the future of Haiti", affirmed the President of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno. "Today we are here not only to support the reconstruction of a school, but to manifest our support for the efforts of Haiti towards transforming its entire educational system".
"I am convinced that the only thing that will change the fate of Latin America and the Caribbean will be governments placing themselves at the center of the investment towards a quality education for all boys and girls, from birth and thereon in", said Shakira.
For more pictures from Shakira's visit to Haiti yesterday, click here.
I'm saddened to see so much suffering. The images of Japan are horrific. My only reflection on this is that we are all but one single nation. One world united. That when there is one region affected by a catastrophe the rest of the world must react. We as Colombians asked the same when we suffered the floods of this past winter. Physical borders are products of our imagination and it would seem that those of us who live in this world will be faced with many challenges, so best that those challenges find us united. When one hears of such things we realize how small we are, how defenseless, and that the only sensible thing is to look at ourselves, at the entire human race, as one single community in search of building a better world, a planet that is better cared for and a more just reality for everyone.
That is all we can do. But if we add wars, internal conflicts and indifference to the realities of others, then it becomes a much more difficult world.
Let's do something for the sake of others. Let's all dedicate part of our time to contribute to the growth of our community. Let's do everything we can to educate our children. So that they grow up to have developed minds and hearts and armed with these, are ready to face the challenges of this world.
Beginning with those who are just newly born, because it is in them where we find our greatest opportunity to educate and evolve as a society.
I am certain that we are at up to the challenge, but we have to act now.
On Saturday, Shakira was named Harvard's Artist of the Year, at a ceremony at the university. She was honored with the award for both her music and her work promoting universal access to education. Click here to read Shakira's full acceptance speech.
Article by Iván Bernal Marín Translated from El Heraldo (Colombia)
A public school in Barranquilla, built just 2 years ago, has already achieved a high level of education according to the organization Icfes. The school in question is the Pies Descalzos Educational Institution, financed by the superstar Shakira.
The majority of its students, children of reintegrated people or family members of displaced citizens and of low socioeconomic stature obtained above average scores on the recent Saber 11 tests. One of them, Nestor Alejandro Torres Chamorro, even achieved the 5th place score in the entire country.
Nestor will be 16 this Sunday. He lives in the district of La Playa. His two younger brothers also attend the Pies Descalzos school. He scored a 77 average of all subjects.
“This will help me in the pre-selection process for a scholarship at Northern University,” says Nestor. He has already passed the first stage of selection. He aspires to be a systems engineer. He doesn’t talk much, but he confesses that he feels proud to have contributed to elevating the general level of quality of the school.
In recognition of her continuing dedication to improve access to
education for all children around the world, Shakira was named as the 2010 Free Your Mind recipient at last night's EMA Awards in Madrid, Spain (she also opened the show, with an amazing performance of Loca and Waka Waka).
For more information on the award, head over to the EMAs site.
Yesterday in South Africa, Shakira met with three girls from different African countries to discuss the state of education in the continent and their own experiences of schooling. The four discussed their experiences of going to school and the forthcoming Education Summit which will take place in South Africa on Sunday July 11th.
Shakira said: “It’s a tragedy that so many children around the world are out of school. Let’s hope leaders meeting this Sunday expand on their commitments to educate and increase the funding for education so that it becomes a priority all over the world. 1GOAL is mobilising people all over the world to put pressure on leaders to put their money where their mouth is, every child has the right to go to school.”
Education is the key to unlocking the best in people, yet every day 72 million children around the world are denied the chance to set foot in a classroom. Please click here to send your message to the summit, asking them to guarantee education for all.
