Shakira is a proud Colombian, and for almost 30 years she’s had tremendous success in her music career. She never forgot where she came from and back in 1997, she created a non-profit organization called Pies Descalzos, which has built tremendous opportunities for children and low-income families in Colombia.
LIKE DailyVitamina.com on Facebook! Get Your Daily Vitamin…FOR LIFE!
“I’ve seen millions of people displaced in Colombia. But I’ve also seen that, in countries like mine, when a child is born poor, he will die poor, unless he receives an opportunity. That opportunity is education,” said Shakira in a NY Times interview.
Since 2004, Shakira’s non-profit has helped implement a comprehensive intervention model through the Open Door School strategy, which links quality public education, nutrition and life tools.
For the past 15 years the organization has worked with the government, private sector and international corporations to build schools that also serve as community centers in some of the poorest areas in Colombia. “We want to restore education as a birthright, not as a luxury for every child, no matter what,” she says.
To date, the organization has created 6 educational institutions in Barranquilla, Cartagena, Soacha and Quibdo, helping more than 67,000 children, youth and adults.
Check out the Pies Descalzos documentary, which highlights the poverty, lack of education and the struggles that many people in Colombia have to go through:
