Shakira Returns to Colombia to Promote Education

The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani recently accompanied pop mega star Shakira on a trip through Colombia to raise awareness for disadvantaged children and education. They traveled to the north-west border province of Choco, a poor and remote location deep in the Colombian jungle to visit a school funded by Shakira.

The area has been devastated by the civil conflict that has wreaked havoc throughout the country for years. "One-hundred per cent of our kids that we have in our school here have been displaced or have families that have fled their home towns," Shakira told Mirchandani.

The kids in the town greet her with fawning admiration, not just because she is Colombia's biggest pop star but also because they understand what she is trying to do for their community. When Mirchandani asked a teacher why the government isn't taking more of an active role to help the people in the way Shakira has, she responded, "You'll have to ask the president that. He should pay more attention to the plight of the people of Choco. We've been abandoned."

But thanks to Shakira, Colombia's government and specifically President Uribe, seems to be taking notice. Uribe recently recognized the singer's work, giving Shakira a medal as she announced plans to build another school in her hometown of Barranquilla.

Shakira's persistence and passion has helped transform hundreds of children's lives and has pushed education to the top of the list of priorities in Colombia where the FARC and the civil conflict has dominated political conversation for almost 40 years. Helping children in the most dire of circumstances find hope and opportunity seems to inspire her just as much as her music.

Source:http://www.latina.com/entertainment

Shakira show a ringing success

ABU DHABI // The organisers of Shakira’s New Year’s Eve performance said yesterday that the show proved a success and underscored their intention to continue bringing international acts to the capital.

Despite early concerns that the concert would be cancelled after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai, called off New Year’s celebrations in his emirate in recognition of the violence in Gaza, everything went as planned, said Lee Charteris, operations manager for Flash.

“We were obviously very relieved it wasn’t cancelled,” Mr Charteris said. “We’d put a lot of work in and it would have been a great shame if it hadn’t been able to go ahead, but it did and people came and had a great time. We’re very, very happy indeed about how it went.”

Organisers said they sold about 12,000 tickets to the La Rumba concert and party.
Shakira performed outdoors at the Emirates Palace hotel, where staff had toiled for weeks to transform the grounds for Wednesday night’s party.

Among the songs Shakira performed were her international chart hits Wherever, Whenever and Underneath Your Clothes, in addition to several Spanish numbers.

She went through several costume changes, her energetic dance moves and belly dancing delighting the crowd. For one song, she climbed down from the stage and met members of the audience, even asking some in the audience for brief vocal contributions.

The show ended with the hit Hips Don’t Lie, from Shakira’s second English-language album, Oral Fixation Vol. Two, but she remained on stage and counted down the seconds to midnight, when a huge firework display began and the audience cheered. Hundreds of revellers stayed to dance through the night at the La Rumba party.

Mr Charteris said Flash is talking with “a few artists” about coming to perform in the capital, but he would not elaborate.

In its short history, Flash has brought a roster of A-list stars to the region for the first time, including Justin Timberlake, Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera and, recently, George Michael.

Source:http://www.thenational.ae