‘Women make money’ has become a leitmotif that is undoubtedly among the most repeated in the last year. The author of it is Shakira and her reason for being is well known. What to do with that billing depends on the conscience of each person and they have that area very clean: the populous area of ??Barrios Unidos, in Cartagena de Indias, has a new educational institution that will serve 960 students thanks to the economic injection from Pies Barefoot, foundation created by the Colombian artist to improve the living conditions of needy children in her country.
In conversation with La Vanguardia, Shakira is exultant. No wonder, this is the 19th school that was born thanks to the Pies Descalzos foundation: “I am deeply proud of the inauguration of this new school in Cartagena. This project not only represents an investment in infrastructure, but also an investment in the future of hundreds of children who will now have access to quality education.” Representatives of the Colombian Ministry of Education, the Educational Infrastructure Financing Fund (FFIE), the mayor of Cartagena and the Santo Domingo foundation were also present at the opening ceremony, held yesterday.
The educational complex, designed in an inclusive way to adapt it to people with reduced mobility, strengthens the education offer of the entire Barrios Unidos area (Bicentenario, Villas de Aranjuez, La India, La Sevillana, Flor del Campo and Colombiatón), which houses population from all over the Caribbean: its 6,272 m2 house 26 basic and secondary education classrooms, four preschool classrooms, a library, a technology room, two laboratories, a kitchen, a dining room, a multiple classroom, administrative areas and a sports area, among other spaces for the training of boys, girls and adolescents.
Shakira created Pies Descalzos two years after publishing the album of the same name, the third of her career. Already back then, before becoming the international star that she is today, the artist’s social sensitivity was perfectly defined and focused on education as a tool to have options for a better future. This is what she points out to this newspaper: “I firmly believe that education is a fundamental right and a powerful tool to transform lives and communities. “We will continue working to provide opportunities to those who need it most, and in the near future, there will be more openings as there are several projects under construction.”
