Colombian superstar Shakira on Monday announced a $1.25 million pledge to help rebuild ten schools and a university in one of the regions most affected by last week’s devastating earthquake.
Colombia was hit by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake during the morning hours of August 10, with its epicenter in the San José del Palmar, Chocó. Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella detailed on Monday night that Colombian authorities have confirmed 289 deaths, 4,187 injured, and 134 individuals who remain missing.
Colombian outlets reported that Shakira travelled to Quibdó, the capital of Chocó, alongside Howard Buffett, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The Barranquilla-born singer and songwriter met with Chocó Governor Nubia Carolina Córdoba and Quibdó Mayor Rafael Bolaños to receive first-hand knowledge of the situation in the region following last week’s devastating earthquake.
Colombian singer Shakira talks to the media after visiting destroyed areas after a 7.4 earthquake in Quibdo, Colombia on August 17, 2026. The noise of backhoes, cranes and bulldozers echoed across Colombia’s quake-hit cities as workers labored to remove rubble, though the chance of finding survivors was slim a week after the disaster. (AFP via Getty Images)
El Colombiano reports that Shakira announced an initial $1.25 million commitment to help towards the reconstruction of the Chocó Tech University and ten new schools in the Colombian department to replace some of the ones that collapsed during the earthquake.
The singer reportedly detailed that $500,000 will come from Live Nation, another $500,000 from the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, and the remaining $250,000 from the CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. El Colombiano detailed that around 200 schools in Chocó suffered damage during the earthquake, severely affecting the return to classes for the local children.
“In recent days, I have seen my country suffer, but I have also seen people come together with the resilience and solidarity that have always defined us,” Shakira reportedly said.
“Schools are more than just buildings. They provide children with the stability and routine they need most after a disaster,” she added. “Chocó is not alone. Colombia is not alone. And we are going to move forward.”
Shakira told Governor Córdoba that she will personally commit to the reconstruction of the Chocó University. Per Infobae, the singer called upon Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom to help reconstruction efforts in Colombia and called for private sector support. Shakira reportedly pointed out that Chocó lacks internet connectivity that can allow children to study from home, stressing, “every day the children do not go to school is a day we spend their future, and we cannot allow that.”
“Chocó, for example, was a department that already had a large population displaced by violence. So, we were already starting from a position of extreme vulnerability, and now we’re experiencing one of the worst tragedies Colombia has ever faced,” Shakira reportedly said.
“But we stand united, and we’re going to fight, and we won’t stop until every child returns to school, until every child can regain a sense of normalcy, return to their life, and be with their friends. And here we are, I’m here, Colombia,” she continued.
The BBC reported that Shakira’s Pies Descalzos Foundation has maintained a presence in Chocó for over two decades to help children’s education, allowing about 400 students to graduate, 70 percent of which continued their studies in college. Noticias RCN pointed out that Shakira’s foundation inaugurated its first school in Quibdó in 2005.
Other Colombian artists such as Ryan Castro, J. Balvin, Karol G, and Maluma have organized donations, humanitarian aid shipments, and relief effort campaigns over the past week to help Colombians through several corresponding foundations. Shakira and J. Balvin are on the broader list of artists mobilizing relief efforts to support young people affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Colombia and Venezuela in recent weeks. As Breitbart News reported last week, several Latin American music stars such as Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, and Chayanne held an international benefit concert in Miami over the weekend to help Colombian and Venezuelan victims.
President de la Espriella, who took office hours before the devastating August 10 earthquake, detailed on Monday that his office estimates that the earthquake left about 30 trillion Colombian pesos (roughly $9.6 billion) worth of damages to Colombian buildings and infrastructure.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here