Shakira Arrives In Haiti with Plans to Open School

(HMG) – Colombian pop star Shakira is meeting with Haitian earthquake survivors living in makeshift camps and she says she is preparing to build a school for needy children.

“We’ve come to make all the preparations to be able to start the building of a Barefoot school here in Haiti,” Shakira said in a brief interview. Shakira said providing education to Haitian children would be a key part of the reconstruction of the quake-shattered country, which even before the disaster was already the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere.

“We need to think about the future of this country and of how Haiti’s children can be useful to their societies tomorrow … Education is one of the fundamental tools with which to develop and rebuild Haiti,” she said.

Arriving Sunday, the singer waved to onlookers and greeted infants living on a Haitian golf course that has turned into a sprawling makeshift camp for 50,000 quake survivors. At the planned site of her Barefoot Haiti school, she met about 100 children, some of whom danced to her songs.

Her Barefoot foundation provides nutrition to more than 6,000 children in Colombia displaced by violence, and she is member of the ALAS foundation that advocates for children across Latin America.

Shakira was greeted by actor Sean Penn, who is providing humanitarian aid at Haitian refugee camps. The two stars spoke about challenges confronting Haiti since the Jan. 12 disaster, where more than 200,000 people have been killed.

Source