Content Section

Shakira’s Fundación “Pies Descalzos” and Costa Cruises together for the construction of a school in Colombia

InBarcelona Shakira and Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises, announced theofficial start of the project with a symbolic "First brick" delivery ceremony.The school will be built in Cartagena (Colombia), with scheduled delivery inJune 2019, providing education and support to 1,300 local students and theentire close communities involved.

Genoa, 18October 2017 – International superstar Shakira and CostaCruises top management celebrated in Barcelona the official start of the donationproject to the FundaciónPies Descalzos for the construction of a school in Colombia.The project is aimed at helping local children and their families and providinga quality education for disadvantaged children as well as a community centerfor their families.

During the presentation event, Neil Palomba,President of Costa Cruises, delivered the first stone of the school, a brickthat represent the "Brick of Happiness", to Shakira to symbolize the beginningof the project. The construction will start in Cartagena in 2018 when the brickwill arrive on board a Costa cruise ship after a journey from Barcelona toCartagena. During the sailing both Costa ship's crew and guests will have thechance to leave a dedication and a special message.

The newschool will be built in Cartagena between the districts "Ciudad delBicentenario" and "Villa de Aranjuez", and is scheduled for delivery in June2019, providing education and support to 1,300 local students from 6 to 18years. It will follow the "public quality education" model provided by theFundación Pies Descalzos, including also nutrition and health programs andspecial training activities for parents and the community at large. The centerwill be equipped with state of the art facilities, such as library, auditorium,dininghall, sports areas, laboratories (professional development, scientificand technological), areas dedicated to early childhood, and more than 40 classroomsand halls.

FundaciónPies Descalzos is a Colombian NGO (non-governmental organization)founded by international artist Shakira in 1997 with the main objective topromote quality public education for children in vulnerable situation inColombia.

The strongrelation between Costa Cruises and Shakira, testimonial of the Italian brandfor the "Happiness Squared" campaign since 2015, includes also the activeparticipation of Costa to the philanthropic program set up by the Foundationshe created.

"I'm sohappy to know that a company like Costa Cruises understands the value ofreceiving a high-quality education in order to promote a more productivesociety. - said Shakira - I'mlooking forward to working with them to guarantee access to a top-qualityeducation and state of the art facilities to open a school for 1,300 childrenin Cartagena in my native Colombia".

"As astrong company operating worldwide we have the duty and the opportunity tosupport the communities in the different continents – said Neil Palomba,Costa Cruises President - Starting late2014 we established the Costa Crociere Foundation as the natural evolvement ofthe social and environmental footprint Costa Cruises has carried on over theyears. Today our engagement towards the Fundación Pies Descalzos allows us toprovide help to children and their families also in South America".

This donation initiative fits perfectly intothe context of community support activities on the different continents thatCosta already conducts through its Costa Crociere Foundation. Costa sustainsMercy Ships organization for the delivery of essential medical services inAfrica; in Asia the Costa Crociere Foundation provides its financial supportfor the education of 500 disadvantaged children in the Philippines; and inEurope the Foundation is strongly engaged in promoting the social andenvironmental betterment of the communities through 21 projects. Earlier thisyear, for instance, a kindergarten for 125 children affected by the earthquakein central Italy has been inaugurated in Norcia and is now fully operatingthanks to the support of Costa and its Foundation.

CostaCruises is an Italian companythat is part of Carnival Corporation & plc, the largest cruise group in theworld. For 69 years the ships of the Costa fleet have been travelling theworld's seas offering hospitality and authentic Italian style holidays,distinguished by exquisite food, fine wines, unique shopping experiences, and acomprehensive selection of famous Italian brands. Currently the Costa fleet has15 ships in service, all flying the Italian flag. Two new latest generationvessels are expected in 2019 and 2021. They will be fuelled by liquefiednatural gas (LNG), the world's "cleanest fossil fuel", and a realenvironmental innovation. Costa represents Italian excellence, and every daysurpasses the expectations of its guests with a unique and unforgettableholiday experience. It does this thanks to the approximately 19,000 employeesaround the world who work to provide the best of Italy on board, with 140different routes, 250 destinations and 60 ports of embarkation.

About Shakira - Overthe course of her career, Colombian singer-songwriter and GRAMMY® winnerShakira has sold over 60 million records worldwide and has won numerous awardsincluding two GRAMMYs®, eight Latin GRAMMYs®, and several World Music Awards,American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, to name a few. She is theonly artist from South America to have a number one song in the US, and has hadfour of the 20 top-selling hits of the last decade. At the age of 18, shefounded the Pies Descalzos (Barefoot) Foundation which currently provideseducation and nutrition to over six thousand impoverished children in Colombiaand is expanding its work to other countries, including newly launched projectsin Haiti and South Africa. In October 2011, Shakira was named a member ofPresident Obama's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Shakira served as coach on the 4th and 6thseason of "The Voice," NBC's hit reality vocal competition seriesthat searches for the nation's best voice. Her tenth studio album "Shakira" wasreleased in 2014, featuring hits such as "Can't Remember to Forget You," withRihanna and "La La La (Brazil 2014)" which she performed at the finals ofFifa's World Cup 2014 in Brazil. In 2016, she starred as Gazelle in Disney'srecord-breaking film "Zootopia," as well as contributing to its soundtrack with"Try Everything". In June, she launched "La Bicicleta" with fellow Colombianartist Carlos Vives, which broke records in Colombia when it remained #1 for 18consecutive weeks and spent 13 weeks at #1 in Spain, as well as reaching #1 onUS Latin iTunes. The video, shot in Shakira and Carlos's hometowns ofBarranquilla and Santa Marta, respectively, has over one billion views on Vevoto date. It was followed up by the seductive track "Chantaje" (Blackmail) feat.Maluma. With over 1.8 billion views on YouTube, it is one of the platform'sbiggest Latin hits in history. It also reached #1 on the "LatinAirplay" chart and was certified Double Platinum in Spain. Following"Chantaje," the music video for "Déjà vu" has reached over 251M views, "MeEnamoré," co-directed by Shakira has over 325M views, and her most recentlyreleased video, "Perro Fiel" featuring Nicky Jam, is already at 50 millionviews. Shakira recently released her 11th studio album, "El Dorado" which wasrecorded primarily in Spanish. Upon release, the album charted #1 on iTunes in37 countries.

Forfurther information:

Costa Cruises

Press Office - Tel. +39 010 5483523 / 010 5483068 -costapressoffice@costa.it

Gabriele Baroni – Communication Director – mob. +39 3497668013 -baroni@costa.it

Davide Barbano - Media Relations Manager - Tel. +39 010.5483523 - +39 334.6525216 – barbano@costa.it

Cristiano de Musso – Head of Corporate Communication – Tel. +39010 5483068 – mob. +39 3346805095 - demusso@costa.it

Press releases and photos are available atwww.costapresscenter.com

Kaleidoscope powered