Colombian-born musician Shakira is being hailed for helping to build a seventh school in the poorest districts of South America.
Her organization, the Pies Descalzos Foundation, has built six schools in Colombia since it launched in 1997.
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The educational accomplishment is in partial thanks to the foundation’s collaboration with the FC Barcelona foundation and the “La Caixa” Banking Foundation.
In 2016, 25.7% of the area’s population lived below the poverty line. While announcing plans for the new school, Shakira made a point of explaining how educating a community is the best way for it to overcome poverty.
“When we started to build schools in Colombia 20 years ago, we chose remote areas where there was absolutely nothing at all – no infrastructure, roads or even potable water,” said the singer in a statement.
“We built schools where the government was absent and thousands of children didn’t have access to quality education. The transformation was immediate – jobs were generated, malnutrition plummeted, and the students responded well academically.”
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