Shakira arrived in Quibdó on Monday (August 17) to tour schools damaged by the August 10 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia.
Colombian news station Noticias Caracol reported that the 49-year-old superstar toured the destruction in the city, which is the capital of the Chocó province. The Associated Press reports that over 40 schools in the area collapsed, with hundreds of others impacted in some way.
“The thing that worries the most is that, after this state of emergency ends, all of the schools will go without being reconstructed … and that our children will not be able to return to school,” Shakira said in Spanish, per Noticias Caracol.
The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer then pledged to “construct 10 schools” in Chocó, a project she will take on in tandem with her Pies Descalzos Foundation and Howard Buffett, who has taken part in a number of social infrastructure projects in Colombia.
For funding, Noticias Caracol and the AP reported a total of $1 million raised, consisting of $500,000 from Global Citizen and $500,000 from Live Nation. AP News reported a higher total of $1.25 million, adding a $250,000 pledge from CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, while specifying that Global Citizen's portion came from the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.
“There is not a way to alleviate the pain of so many, there are no magic solutions,” Shakira added, per the AP. “But what there is, is commitment to be here alongside those from Chocó, to not abandon El Chocó like it historically has been abandoned, until every Colombian and every person from Chocó can return to their normal lives like they deserve and all the children can return to their schools and dream of the futures they deserve.”
Citing Colombian authorities, the AP repots that the 7.4-magnitude earthquake killed at least 287 people in the region on August 10 and left more than 26,000 dwellings destroyed.
