Shakira, Making a Difference

The soon to be 30 year old Latin songstress, Shakira, dominated the 2006 Latin Grammy Awards. Her sexually charged duet with Alejandro Sanz left no doubt that song and record of the year honors were rightfully bestowed for "La Tortura", as well as album of the year for "Fijacion Oral Vol. 1". The serpentine hip gyrations, and sensuous chest and upper body undulations may be what Shakira is famous for, but she touched hearts with her support for the immigrants working illegally in the United States. Taking home the honor of "Best Female Pop Vocal Album", Shakira shared her spotlight with this cause and extended her support to those trying to become citizens as they work without documentation. "I hope soon they will receive the recognition they deserve from the government," said the Columbian born superstar. The engineers that worked to make "Fijacion Oral Vol. 1" a chart topping success also picked up an award.

Born, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, in Barranquilla, Columbia, Shakira is no stranger to the turmoil of the civil war that rages in her homeland. Shakira will donate the proceeds from her upcoming concert in her hometown to the build an arts school for the estimated 1,800 children forced to flee their homes amidst the fighting. The concert is one just stop on Shakira's worldwide "Oral Fixation" tour, scheduled for November 15, 2006 in the Caribbean port city of Barranquilla. However, it may be well the one that she will be the longest revered for. The school will be bilingual, English and Spanish, and be named in honor of Shakira's Pies Descalzos (Spanish for Bare Feet) foundation. The school will emphasize on arts education. The school is planned to be located in La Playa, an impoverished suburb of Shakira's hometown, Barranquilla.

War has raged in this country for over half a century and fighting continues. In La Playa alone, an estimated 21,500 residents have been displaced from their homes. Estimates of displacement due to armed fighting, conflict and uprising across the country of Columbia are in the millions. Shakira's Pies Descalzos Foundation already helps 3,380 children living in three other communities of internally displaced persons. Proving once again, that one person CAN make a difference.

The school is tentatively scheduled to open in 2008, having received the full backing of the educational authorities there in Columbia. The buildings are being designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Vinoly, known here in the United States as the designer of New York's Jazz At Lincoln Center complex.