If you think about Afghanistan skateboarding is probably not the first thing that comes to your mind. But there is actually a lot more to this country than the constant bad news on TV and the cliché pictures everyone has in their minds.
Some years ago I stumbled over the website of an NGO called Skateistan, an organization founded in 2007 in Kabul. The principle idea of the project is to combine skateboarding with educational purposes. They run an indoor skate-park and a back-to-school programme for kids working on the street, internal refugees and, especially, girls. After a year in the program the children can enroll in a government run school.
Also, a special focus is put on art-based education. Classes are about expression, including photography, filmmaking and poetry. The aim is to get the voice of Afghan kids out into the world. Among the videos and pictures available online one can find the stories of young students, funny sketches but also videos of people skating in very unlikely places. My favourite one is a video of a young skater taking his board to the dangerous Jalalabad Road from Kabul to Jalalabad (if you want to know just how dangerous this road is, just google it).
Girls make up more than 40% of the students. This is remarkable, especially considering how hard it usually is for girls in Afghanistan to do some sport. Skateistan puts a lot of effort in building youth leadership and promoting a strong civil society and work to empower their young students. They can become skate instructors and teaching assistants.
The guys from Skateistan master the PR sphere – there even is a movie called Skateistan: To Live and Skate in Kabul. The Skateistan-Kids also participate in the annual international Go Skateboarding Day and it makes quite an impression to see a bunch of kids on their skateboards on Kabul’s streets.
Recently, a new centre has opened in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and the organization has long ago expanded its work to other countries (i.e. Cambodia) as well.
So check them out and “Keep Skateistan Rolling” 🙂
Miriam's Diwan 