Shakira’s Fundación Pies Descalzos contributed $3.68 million—nearly half—of the $8 million budget for the Lomas del Peyé school, which opened its doors in February 2014 and covers 7,780 square metres. The campus was designed for 1,700 students, a figure that underscores the foundation’s ambition to meet a future surge in enrolment.
La María, the school’s location, sits behind Cartagena’s airport and is classified by the foundation as one of the city’s most vulnerable districts. Most children in the area live in informal settlements, and the campus’s proximity to the airport makes it a vital community anchor.
Inside, the school offers more than classrooms: a library, a science laboratory, bilingual rooms, a technology hub, a dining hall, sports courts, play areas, and 44 sanitation facilities. These amenities aim to create a learning environment that supports regular attendance, nutrition, and overall well‑being.
Twelve years after its inauguration, the school remains fully operational, educating over 1,000 children annually and continuing to generate community benefits—such as the hundreds of construction jobs it created when it first opened—while the foundation expands its portfolio of schools across Colombia.
tags: ["Shakira", "Education", "Colombia", "Philanthropy", "Cartagena"]