U.S. President Barack Obama applauds as singer Shakira takes the stage to sing the Colombian national anthem at the arrival ceremony for the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena April 14, 2012.
Obama, Shakira Join Forces at Colombian Cultural Event
CARTAGENA, Colombia — Before leaving Colombia, President Obama spent some time with the people of Cartagena, participating in a cultural event to recognize the historically marginalized Afro-Colombian communities and to grant the descendents of slaves the formal title to their land.
“This a historic day, decades, even centuries in the making,” Obama said. “For generations many of you have lived on these lands, toiled these lands, raised your families on these lands and now, from this day forward, you will at long-last hold title to this land.”
Standing alongside President Santos of Colombia and singer Shakira in the Plaza de San Pedro, Obama reflected on his own ancestry.
“Early in my presidency, my family and I visited Ghana in West Africa and we visited the historic Cape Coast Castle and I’ll never forget my two young daughters, the descendents of Africans and African-Americans, looking out through the door of no return where so many Africans began their forced journey to this hemisphere,” he said.
“Today we gather in a port city where so many of those Africans arrived in chains,” he said. “Like their brothers and sisters in both our countries and across this hemisphere they endured unimaginable cruelty, but in their suffering, which revealed man’s capacity for evil, we also see the spirit of this day, man’s capacity for good, for perseverance, for healing, the belief that we can overcome.”
The United States has allocated $61 million to improve the quality of life in predominantly indigenous communities and provide support to Colombia’s land restitution efforts.
“Giving you and so many Afro-Colombian communities title to this land is part of ending this nation’s long conflict,” Obama explained. “It gives you a new stake in a new Colombia. Not far from here your ancestors were brought and sold. Going forward, Colombia can realize its full potential by empowering all of its people, no matter what you like or where you come from.”
Shakira, who has a foundation that runs early childhood programs in the communities, introduced the event, but did not showcase her famous singing voice. The president spoke before a group of rather rambunctious children enrolled in her program, but praised their patience nonetheless.
“I am especially thankful to all the children because they are sitting very still and well-behaved and I want to get lessons for my own children from the parents and teachers,” he said, as the children continued to squirm.
After his brief remarks, Obama worked the ropeline, interacting with the Colombian people face-to-face for the first time during his visit to Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas. The president then headed straight to the airport and back to Washington. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...ultural-event/
At the Summit of the Americas in Colombia yesterday, Presidents Obama and Santos and Shakira spoke on early childhood education, Latino education and displaced communities. The leaders highlighted Shakira’s work supporting early childhood education and the futures of the children of the continent.
President Obama acknowledged Shakira’s work in early childhood education, saying, “When we look out to these children behind us, these beautiful children, they have a brighter future ahead of them. But that future will only be fulfilled if we're making investments in them every single day, as Shakira and the First Lady are working to do, as President Santos and I have to commit ourselves to do, but today is an important first step in creating that brighter future for them.”
Likewise, President Santos referred to the actions of his government in support of early childhood education, adding, “Today we are also carrying out a symbolic event with a policy that is a priority in my government, in which my wife has taken a special interest, and that is the policy towards early childhood education. I want to thank President Obama for being here for such an important event; and above all give thanks to these children behind me, to Shakira, and to my wife for her interest in these children who are the future of Colombia.”
In her speech, Shakira also reaffirmed her commitment towards early childhood and said, “I am committed to you in my capacity as member of the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in the US,” and added “it’s great news that your administration just committed 133 million more in early childhood development initiatives.”
About President Santos’s government and its fight for early childhood education, Shakira concluded, “I am delighted to work hand in hand with you on this new alliance for early childhood that we have announced here in Cartagena to build new centers for education together with your administration.”
Here is Shakira's full speech:
Good afternoon everyone, President Obama—welcome to Colombia, President Santos—these past three days during this Summit of the Americas some very important issues have been debated, among them there is one that makes me feel particularly optimistic, the Manifesto Against Poverty and Inequality. Its first and main point is the commitment of the Presidents to work on education and early childhood development. This is a greatly important step, since it is the first time that the issue of early education has been treated so directly in a Summit of the Americas.
We know of the many challenges that you all face each day as leaders and as such, seeing you here in my country at this bilateral meeting, talking about education and early childhood is a symbol that holds great weight and meaning.
There are currently 35 million children in the region who have no access to quality early childhood education, nutrition and stimulation and these types of programs are fundamental. Obtaining the necessary programs for these 35 million children, who have thus far been forsaken, is a task that requires an effort from everyone, not only the state but also the private sector.
Therefore, during this summit, we have insisted vehemently on the urgency of creating and financing more early education programs, because we are conscious of the fact that investing in those first 6 years of the life of a child is fundamental to their future, the economic future of our nations, and for global peace.
We attended the summits in El Salvador, Portugal and today we are here, and we will continue insisting until the initial attention on early childhood is on the political agendas of all of our leaders, and we will also continue insisting on philanthropic initiatives from all the financial leaders in the region, and until society at large understands that early attention given to our children is the most efficient formula for eradicating poverty and for economic growth.
In the 17 years that I have spent investing and promoting education I can state that without a doubt, investing in education has never let me down because every effort and every dollar invested yields results and they yield results in the short term, because kids grow up fast.
So, President Obama, I am committed to you in my capacity as a member of the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in the US. I know that you care about the academic development of Hispanics and that you understand that the future of America is intimately linked to the future of the Latino community. It is great news Mr. President that your administration announced this month that it would devote an additional $133 million to initiatives on early childhood development for children in the US, and you can count on my support.
And President Santos, I am also committed to you and pleased to work hand in hand with you on this new alliance for early childhood that we have announced here in Cartagena to build new centers for education together with your administration.
In conclusion, I’d like to invite all of you to become a part of this movement for early childhood development and education. And may the children who live here in Cartagena and all of those who live in conditions of extreme poverty, displacement and conflict be the protagonists of this story, may they be those who we believe in most, and those who we will be quite literally putting our money on.
