Shakira’s “Barefoot Foundation” has helped provide education for 4,095 children living in poverty-stricken areas of Colombia, the foundation reported Tuesday.
Executive director Patricial Sierra of Pies Descalzos’ (translated to Barefoot) also indicated that these children will be joined by over 1,000 more for opening schools, according to Terra news site.
Sierra further stated that the charities’ efforts will be more focused on the Cartegena region where they plan to build a school for 1,500 children. Although the process is being slowed down due to lack of governmental cooperation, Sierra hopes that the project “can be opened by the end of 2013.”
The Pies Descalzos organization, founded in the late 1990s to provide schooling for children in the most impoverished areas of Colombia that are usually affected by the armed conflict.
Currently the foundation has established five schools throughout Colombia in impoverished areas such as Quibdo, a small town in the Choco department, west Colombia, and Barranquilla, Shakira’s home town.
Although Colombia has achieved it’s 83.5% education goals since the turn of the century, there are still 1.1 million children out of school.
