Colombian pop singer Shakira delivered a stirring speech on making quality education accessible to all at the Oxford Union, Oxford University, in southern England Monday.

The “Hips Don’t Lie” hitmaker, an activist since 18, stood up in front of an audience at the institution’s famed Union on Monday night to talk about her role as an ambassador for charity UNICEF and her own The Barefoot Foundation, which aims to improve education for impoverished children.

The singer, 32, thanked the students for taking the time to listen to her views on the topic of universal access to education.

“I am somewhat mystified as to why you are here because there won’t be any singing, any hip shaking whatsoever,” she laughed. “I was born in Colombia, growing up in the developing world where education is perceived as a luxury and not as birthright. So how do I go from Barranquilla, Colombia, come to occupy the same stage as Newton, Churchill? Lord knows, I am no Mother Theresa. But here I am nonetheless. My career gives me an enormous opportunity to communicate issues that I believe strongly should be communicated.”