Colombian singer Shakira pledged on Monday, August 17 to rebuild at least ten schools in the province of Chocó following a devastating earthquake.
The magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit Colombia on August 10, leaving nearly 300 people dead, more than 1,600 injured, and destroying over 26,000 homes across the South American nation.
According to the latest regional government report released on Monday, the disaster destroyed at least 3,100 homes and damaged more than 265 schools in Chocó, one of the poorest provinces in the country.
Quibdó school visits
The 49-year-old artist, best known for her global hit Whenever, Wherever, visited severely damaged educational facilities and posed for photographs with local students in the provincial capital of Quibdó.
Speaking to journalists during her tour of the affected area, Shakira said her primary concern was that the damaged schools might not be rebuilt once the initial emergency response had passed.
Shakira, a multiple Grammy Award winner, has long combined her international pop career with educational advocacy. She founded her non-profit organisation, Fundación Pies Descalzos, or Barefoot Foundation, in 1997 to support vulnerable children in Colombia through public education and nutrition programmes.
Funding and partnerships
American philanthropist Howard Buffett, the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett and a long-standing donor to development projects in Colombia, accompanied Shakira on her visit. Buffett has previously partnered with the singer to fund school construction across the country.
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation will collaborate directly with Shakira's Fundación Pies Descalzos on the Chocó reconstruction project.
Shakira also announced that international advocacy organisation Global Citizen and global concert promoter Live Nation have each pledged $500,000, equivalent to approximately €432,000, toward the school rebuilding efforts.
Long term commitment
During a visit to a high school in Quibdó, Shakira told community members that while there was no miracle solution to ease the suffering of so many people, society must not abandon Chocó as it had been historically.
