Shakira Opens School in Colombia for Underprivileged Children

Shakira is more than just a talented singer and ‘Voice‘ coach — she is also all about giving back to her community. And she did exactly that on Monday, Feb. 24, returning to her home country of Colombia to inaugurate the eighth school funded by her non-profit company, Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet)

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Shakira, who just dropped her new song ‘Empire,’ visited the low income area of Lomas del Peyé on Monday, where the latest school was built. According to Billboard, the school will hold 1,700 students, who will range in age from daycare to high school age.

“This is part of my advocacy: Promote access to universal education,” Shakira told Billboard passionately. “I want to demonstrate through the Pies Descalzos model how we can change the lives, not only of the children who come to school, but also their families. Entire communities can be transformed when you have a school that functions properly.”

“I’m so happy to see so many joyful faces in these students,” Shakira said at the event, where she and her baby boy, Milan, were greeted by hundreds of well-wishers in the streets leading to the school. “They’ll have the tools necessary to become good citizens, far from violence and drugs. We dream of the day in which there will be no child without an education in Colombia.”

Preach it, girl. Shakira truly is an inspiration.

See Shakira and Milan Interact With Fans