A school opened by Shakira’s charity Fundacion Pies Descalzos has taken on seven voluntary English teachers from the U.S.
The Institucion Eunice Barandica y Carmen Ariza is situated in an economically depressed suburb of the singer’s hometown of Barranquilla, and was inaugurated in February 2009.
The role of the new volunteers is to teach students from the sixth and seventh grades conversational English, to support the institution’s bilingualism program.
Teachers at the school will also be offered English classes with the volunteers.
“I’m interested in getting to know about [Colombian] history, the economy and its relationship with the United States,” said volunteer Kenny Short.
The new teachers belong to the World Teach program, established by the Center for Development at the University of Harvard, and were selected from over 200 applicants by charity group Volunteer Colombia.