Shakira makes surprise visit to Colombia after deadly earthquake,…
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Colombian famous person Shakira announced Monday that she is going to assist rebuild no less than 10 faculties and restore a local college in a distant and hard-hit area of her house nation after it suffered a devastating earthquake last week that killed a whole bunch and affected 1000’s of academic websites across western Colombia.
The globally acknowledged “Hips Don’t Lie” musician made the pledge during a surprise visit to Quibdó, the capital of the Colombian province of Chocó, the place she toured broken faculties, hugging college students and taking pictures with them.
“What worries me the most is that schools are not rebuilt once this emergency is over,” Shakira told journalists. “Every day that children don’t go to school is a day they miss out on their future.”
Shakira speaks during a press convention after visiting certainly one of the areas devastated by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake on Monday, August 17, 2026, in Quibdo, Colombia. STRINGER/EPA/Shutterstock
She was accompanied by Howard Buffett, son of billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett and longtime donor to Colombia, who has helped Shakira arrange faculties there before. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation will collaborate with Shakira’s Fundación Pies Descalzos, or Barefoot Foundation, on reconstructing the 10 faculties.
“When she calls, I come,” Buffett said during the visit.
The singer also told reporters she deliberate to dedicate her “personal efforts” to rebuilding a local technological college in Chocó and announced pledges of $500,000 each from the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund and Live Nation, and $250,000 from CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean towards rebuilding faculties and getting youngsters again into school rooms.
The 7.4 magnitude quake on Aug. 10 struck an unlimited swath of western Colombia, killing no less than 287 people and destroying more than 26,000 dwellings, authorities said. The authorities has said 194 people are lacking, while other civilian-run databases put the quantity at more than 4,100.
Shakira (left) speaks alongside American philanthropist Howard Graham Buffett (proper) during a press convention after visiting certainly one of the areas devastated by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Quibdo, Colombia, on Monday, STRINGER/EPA/Shutterstock
Shakira announced that she is going to rebuild the Technological University of Choco, broken by the earthquake that struck Colombia on August 10, according to experiences. STRINGER/EPA/Shutterstock
The epicenter was in Chocó, certainly one of Colombia’s poorest areas, the place no less than 3,100 properties have been destroyed and over 265 academic websites have been affected, according to the regional authorities’s latest report pn Monday.
“It’s a place I love, a place where I’ve seen our students grow in our classrooms,” Shakira said in a video posted on X by the Colombian news outlet La FM. Her basis, which focuses on academic entry for teenagers in Colombia, has been in Chocó for 22 years, operating two faculties from which a whole bunch of scholars have graduated, she said. “I really want to see it rebuild again.”
Aid teams have struggled to assess the injury thus far in Chocó, an space the dimension of Switzerland the place communication is troublesome. The province has few roads linking it to the remainder of the nation, and its cities and villages are linked largely by rivers and unpaved roads.
A view of the injury to the Carrasquilla Industrial Educational Institution. STRINGER/EPA/Shutterstock
“What worries me the most is that schools are not rebuilt once this emergency is over,” Shakira told journalists. “Every day that children don’t go to school is a day they miss out on their future.” AFP through Getty Images
Most of Chocó’s 600,000 inhabitants live in poverty, according to figures printed last yr by Colombia’s national authorities, and it’s largely inhabited by Indigenous tribes and Afro Colombian communities.
“There is not a way to alleviate the pain of so many, there are no magic solutions,” Shakira, 49, said during her visit to a large high college in Quibdó. “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.”
The Grammy Award winner recognized for hits like “Whenever, Wherever,” “La Tortura,” and the 2026 FIFA World Cup anthem “Dai Dai” is a longtime supporter of academic entry and development.
She not too long ago headlined the halftime present of the World Cup final match in July and carried out in May on Brazil’s Copacabana Beach to a crowd of two million.
Colombian Army members take away particles at the Torres de Limonar constructing on Monday, August 17. REUTERS
At least 287 people have died, 1000’s have been injured, and about 379 stay unaccounted for after a 7.4 earthquake in Colombia. AFP through Getty Images
After Venezuela’s twin earthquakes in June, Shakira announced the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund would commit $500,000 to training recovery there.
Her announcement Monday is the latest of many commitments from outstanding Colombians and other Latin American artists to assist Colombia and Venezuela. On Sunday, Marc Anthony and Chayanne joined dozens of other artists at a Miami profit live performance and live fundraiser for each international locations’ earthquake reduction.
Colombian singer Karol G pledged to match fan donations to her Con Cora Foundation during her three-night run at SoFi Stadium close to Los Angeles last weekend. She will also be part of Maluma, Sebastián Yatra and others at a profit live performance in Bogotá this Sunday.
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