Skateistan, the world-operating, world-skating, organisation for edu-skate-ion (that’s how we refer to them anyway) have just launched ‘Safe to Skate’ – their most ambitious campaign to date, with a target to raise $200,000 for Skateistan’s skateboarding and educational programs. As an award-winning NGO, which combines skateboarding with creative education – for children’s empowerment – Skateistan has grown at a beautifully alarming rate. This campaign aims to provide havens for children to skate, learn and play. Donate today!
Photos by Zorah Olivia
The charity works in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa and has a focus on reaching children from groups which are often excluded from educational opportunities, such as girls, children living with disabilities and children from low income backgrounds.ad
Mony, Phnom Penh. Mony struggled to control her behaviour but Skateistan Educators found a way to connect with her and help her to channel her energy into skateboarding.
‘Safe to Skate’ launches today with a special short film and will run until the end of the year. The campaign features four current Skateistan students, who tell the story of safety at Skateistan through their personal experiences. One of the students featured is Safia, who lives in an internally displaced people’s camp in Afghanistan. Her education had been disrupted by conflict in the region and she was out of school. Through Skateistan, she was able to catch up on her education and return to formal schooling.
Through this campaign, Skateistan is aiming to broaden the conversation around the meaning of safety, with a series of short videos of prominent skateboarders and ambassadors for the organization reflecting on what ‘safe to skate’ means to them. This series was kicked off by Vanessa Torres on the first day of the campaign.
Hashmat, Kabul. Hashmat doesn’t go to school and had little interaction with other children apart from his siblings. His family’s financial situation is precarious and there is always the fear of running out of money. At Skateistan, Hashmat was quiet and withdrawn, but with the help of trustworthy educators, Hasmat has developed his confidence and is now a leader within his class.
Skateistan Founder and Executive Director Oliver Percovich said of the campaign:
“Safety is something that’s easy to take for granted. Through ‘Safe to Skate’ we want to highlight the different ways that Skateistan helps children to feel safe, not only by providing a safe physical environment, but by surrounding our students with staff members that they can trust, and by giving them space to express themselves without fear or judgement. Life for many of our students can feel insecure, even dangerous. Often, Skateistan is the only place where they can truly feel safe. We need people to support this campaign in order that our Skate Schools can continue to be safe havens for children in some of the least safe places in the world.”
Safia, Mazar-e-Sharif. Safia had to leave her hometown because of conflict in the region and she now lives in an internally displaced people’s camp on the outskirts of Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan.
Find out more about Safe to Skate here.
The images in this article, and in the gallery above were created by Zorah Olivia, one of our favourite photographers in skateboarding, during her trip to Skateistan Cambodia.
