Shakira makes surprise visit in earthquake-damaged Colombia and commits to rebuilding schools

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Colombian superstar Shakira made a surprise visit to a hard-hit region of her home country Monday, announcing multiple commitments to rebuild schools and a university there after Colombia suffered a devastating earthquake last week.

The globally recognized “Hips Don’t Lie” musician toured damaged schools in Quibdó, the capital of the Colombian province of Chocó, an area where roughly 40 schools completely collapsed and hundreds more were affected.

“What worries me the most is that schools are not rebuilt once this emergency is over,” Shakira told journalists after visiting with students, hugging and taking photos with them. “Every day that children don’t go to school is a day they miss out on their future.”

She was accompanied by Howard Buffett, son of billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett and longtime donor to Colombia who has helped Shakira set up schools there before. The Howard G. Buffett foundation will collaborate with Shakira’s Fundación Pies Descalzos, or Barefoot Foundation, to reconstruct 10 schools.

“When she calls, I come,” Buffett said during the visit.

The singer also said she would focus her “personal efforts” on rebuilding a severely damaged technological university in Chocó, and announced pledges of $500,000 each from the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund and Live Nation and $250,000 from CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean toward rebuilding schools and getting children back into classrooms.

The 7.4 magnitude quake on Aug. 10 struck a vast swath of western Colombia, killing at least 287 people and destroying more than 26,000 dwellings, authorities said. The government has said 194 people are missing, while other civilian-run databases put the number at more than 4,100. Thousands of educational centers were affected.

The epicenter was in Chocó, one of Colombia’s poorest regions and where at least 3,100 homes were destroyed, according to the regional government’s latest report Monday.

“It’s a place I love, a place where I’ve seen our students grow in our classrooms,” Shakira said in a video posted on X by the Colombian news outlet La FM.

Her foundation, which focuses on educational access for youths in Colombia, has been in Chocó for 22 years, running two schools from which hundreds of students have graduated. “I really want to see it rebuild again,” she said.

Aid groups and officials are still assessing the damage in Chocó, an area the size of Switzerland where communication and travel are challenging. The province has few roads linking it to the rest of the country, and its towns and villages are connected mostly by rivers and unpaved roads.

Most of Chocó’s 600,000 inhabitants live in poverty, according to figures published last year by Colombia’s national government, and it is largely inhabited by Indigenous tribes and Afro Colombian communities.

“There is not a way to alleviate the pain of so many, there are no magic solutions,” Shakira, 49, said during her visit to a large high school in Quibdó.

“But what there is, is commitment to be here alongside those from Chocó, to not abandon El Chocó like it historically has been abandoned, until every Colombian and every person from Chocó can return to their normal lives like they deserve and all the children can return to their schools and dream of the futures they deserve,” she said.

The Grammy award winner known for hits like “Whenever, Wherever,” “La Tortura,” and the 2026 FIFA World Cup anthem “Dai Dai” is a longtime supporter of educational access and advancement. She recently headlined the halftime show of the World Cup final match in July and performed in May on Brazil’s Copacabana Beach to a crowd of 2 million.

After Venezuela’s twin earthquakes in June, Shakira announced the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund would commit $500,000 to education recovery there.

Her announcement Monday is the latest of many commitments from prominent Colombians and other Latin American artists to help Colombia and Venezuela. On Sunday, Marc Anthony and Chayanne joined dozens of other artists at a Miami benefit concert and live fundraiser for both countries’ earthquake relief.

Colombian singer Karol G pledged to match fan donations to her Con Cora Foundation during her three-night run at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles last weekend. She will also join Maluma, Sebastián Yatra and others at a benefit concert in Bogotá this Sunday.

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An earlier correction stated Shakira committed to building 10 new schools, not rebuilding 10 schools. She and Buffett are helping reconstruct the schools, not building new ones.

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Gabriela Aoun Angueira reported from San Diego.

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