Quibdó, Colombia – Colombian pop star Shakira on Monday pledged financial support to help rebuild schools damaged by the devastating earthquake in her home country.
The singer visited the badly affected Chocó department on Colombia’s Pacific coast together with US philanthropist Howard Buffett, one week after the 7.4-magnitude quake killed nearly 300 people.
Shakira said her Pies Descalzos foundation has been active in the north-western region for more than 20 years, supporting school construction and education projects for children and young people.
More than 2,800 schools across Colombia were damaged in the August 10 earthquake, many of them in Chocó, which is home mainly to Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities.
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“What worries me most is that once the state of emergency is over, all these schools will not be rebuilt, that so many people will be forgotten … and that our children will not be able to return to school,” Shakira told reporters in Quibdó, the department’s capital.
The singer, known for global hits including Hips Don’t Lie and Waka Waka, said $1 million had already been pledged for reconstruction.
The funding is expected to go towards repairing damaged schools, rebuilding a technical institute, and constructing 10 new schools.
