A Letter From Shakira

DEAR FRIENDS,
I was born in a Latin American country that has been hit particularly hard by injustice and a serious social crisis. I am sure that people often talk about Colombia’s problems, like drug trafficking and the subversive groups, yet there is another problem that affects Colombians even more. It is hard to believe that because of our internal conflict and the escalating violence, three million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. According to the United Nations, this is the second largest humanitarian crisis of internal displacement in the world, after Sudan. In Colombia, more than two million children are unable to attend school and suffer the psychological stress of the armed conflict.

All I have to do is close my eyes and I can imagine their faces; I know that each child has a name, a heart, a dream; I know that their lives as just as valuable as yours or mine. Yet many of these children die every day in total abandonment.

As a woman, I am constantly asking myself what challenges I might face in my life, and I’m sure that there is more to my life than just selling records. I believe that I have to use the resources provided by my artistic career in order to tell people about real problems in the real world, and I know that I have to contribute to the search for real solutions. I’m sure that our planet will be a better place if each one of us will take responsibility for the needs of others
.
The Pies Descalzos Foundation, which I created when I was eighteen years old, is currently implementing a program to help 4,020 victimized children in my country, providing them nutritious meals as an incentive so that their parents will allow them to attend school. By doing this, we help to reduce the number of children ages ten through twelve who are forced to work in the streets or go into prostitution, or are coerced into joining the guerrilla groups to become criminals.

Despite the many conflicts around the world, I have been fortunate to witness the solidarity that exists in people’s hearts. It is like a flame that burns brightly. I trust that as time goes by, there will be more and more people who want to help those in need. When that happens, the world will definitely come to know peace.

i love that !!
she wrote that for a newspaper right ?

shakira-jessica escribió:

i love that !!
she wrote that for a newspaper right ?

I'm not sure about that...but it was definitely for Pies Descalzos Foundation