Shakira lays the foundations for new school in Colombia to help 1,500 impoverished children

Brick layer: Shakira took time off from her The Sun Comes Out World Tour to lay the foundations for the school in Colombia


Shakira seems to be on a charity mission this month, and made her home country of Colombia her latest location as she lay the foundations for a school in Cartegena.

Just weeks after visiting a school in Haiti, she jetted down to South America to help with the construction of the project led by her foundation �Barefoot�.

The Hips Don�t Lie singer, 34, was snapped laying the first brick for the institution, named Cartegena de Indias, which is set to help 1,500 children in poverty.


Helping hands: Shakira was joined by the president of the foundation Howard Buffett (right) and General Secretary of Unasur, Maria Emma Mejia (left)


Grammy-Award winning Shakira, who was joined by the president of the foundation Howard Buffett and the General Secretary of Unasur, Maria Emma Mejia, said she was very happy to be there.

�We are very happy to be laying the first bricks of a school being built by the Barefoot Foundation in Cartagena.'


Giving back: Shakira founded her non-profit Barefoot Foundation to help poor children in the Americas


She continued: �I want to thank so many people, but especially the mayor�s office because I think this is a very high risk area, it has been identified as a high risk area, and it is an area that a lot of other governments would have simply thrown into the waste basket.�

The school is being built in the impoverished neighbourhood of Loma del Peye and will be large enough to take in 1,500 students, according to the Barefoot Foundation.


Heavy work: Shakira was dressed down for her brick laying duties, in a beige vest top and casual black trousers


The complex, that will include science labs, technology and audiovisual centres, and sporting fields will be spread over 7,500 square metres.

Shakira founded her non-profit Barefoot Foundation to help poor children in the Americas.

The singer took time off from her The Sun Comes Out World Tour to take part in the charity exercise.


Meeting the locals: Shakira took time out to chat with the local residents, who will benefit from the school


But she will hit the stage again tomorrow in Panama City at the Figali Convention Center before heading to Abu Dhabi at the end of April.

Shakira was dressed down for her brick laying duties, in a beige vest top and casual black trousers and took time to meet the local residents and play with the city�s children.

At the beginning of April the stunning singer danced with students in Haiti to celebrate the forthcoming renovation of an historic school, which was ravaged by the devastating 2010 earthquake.



Back to work: She will hit the stage again tomorrow for her concert in Panama City at the Figali Convention Center