Skateboarding is pretty cool. A girl skateboarding is awesome. But a girl skateboarding in Afghanistan? Probably couldn’t get better than that.
Skateistan began as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kabul, Afghanistan. Now, they’re an international nonprofit charity providing skateboarding and educational programming in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Pakistan. Their main goal is to use skateboarding as a tool for empowerment by:
-Providing access to education
-Focusing especially on girls and working children
-Developing leadership opportunities
-Building friendship, trust, and social capital.
Here’s a video of what they do. Pretty cool, right? They work with youth ages 5-18, and more than 50% of them are streetworking children. Additionally, almost 40% of their students are girls.
Australian skateboarder Oliver Percovich went to Kabul with his skateboard in 2007, and was immediately surrounded by kids who wanted to learn his craft. With help from friends (fellow skaters) and the community, Skateistan completed construction of an all-inclusive skate park and educational facility on land donated by the Afghan National Olympic Committee. Skateistan has been growing ever since. On Novemember 13th, the full-length documentary featuring Skateistan will be released through iTunes and other vendors.
You can donate to this awesome charity here.
Image and video via skateistan.org.
