Shakira to Open New School, Institución Nuevo Bosque, in Barranquilla

School’s in session for Shakira

The 40-year-old Colombian superstar is opening a new school in her native hometown of Barranquilla.

Shakira

Shakira’s Pies Descalzos Foundation is joining forces with FC Barcelona Foundation and La Caixa, a banking foundation, to open the Institución Nuevo Bosque — Pies Descalzos’ seventh school in Colombia.

The institute will be built in one of Barranquilla’s most conflict-ridden districts, which is where most of Shakira’s institutions have been built throughout Colombia.

“When we started to build schools in Colombia 20 years ago, we chose remote areas where there was absolutely nothing at all — no infrastructure, roads or even potable water,” the “Chantaje” singer said in a statement.

“We built schools where the government was absent and thousands of children didn’t have access to quality education. The transformation was immediate – jobs were generated, malnutrition plummeted and the students responded well academically.”

In a video shared by FC BarcelonaShak further expands on the importance of investing in education.

“We live in a globalized world and we need to invest in children if we want to have a prosperous world. Helping children is the most effective way to eradicate poverty.”

Institución Nuevo Bosque will open its doors in two years.

Back in December, Shakira’s Pies Descalzos’ school in Barranquilla was named the No. 1 public school in all of Colombia, according to a study. The ranking was based on the students’ collective Saber 11 test scores.

Messi Makes Large Donation to Argentine Sports Facility

He may be the world’s best soccer player four years running… But Lionel Messi one of the big-hearted players in the sport.

The 25-year-old Argentine soccer star recently donated nearly $1 million pesos (about $202,000 U.S.) to a sports facility used by children from low-income families in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina, according to his foundation.
Lionel Messi
The money donated by the FC Barcelona striker will be used to improve the Deliot sports complex in Rosario, located about 186 miles from Buenos Aires, allowing children to “have a special place for sports, education, training and culture,” said officials from the Leo Messi Foundation.

The foundation, run by the soccer player and his family, seeks to improve “the well-being of young people and the community.”

But this isn’t the first time Messi, who just won a fourth consecutive FIFA Ballon d’Or, has provided funds for community projects in his hometown.

The Leo Messi Foundation, the FC Barcelona Foundation and Organizacion Social Team recently renovated another sports facility in Rosario used by about 10,000 young people.

Messi was born in a lower-middle-class section of Rosario and began his soccer career with a neighborhood team.