Skateistan launched a new campaign last week to support students following more than a year of lockdowns and Covid-19 restrictions. The campaign, called ‘Back on Board’ focuses on the importance of connections and community within Skateistan’s Skate Schools and will help children to rebuild mental wellbeing as well as their skateboarding skills.
Back on Board aims to raise $125,000 over the next five weeks, which will contribute to Skateistan’s unique mix of skateboarding and creative education programming. The organization provides skateboarding and creative education classes, as well as mental health support for children and life skills.
Each of Skateistan’s four Skate Schools had to close in March 2020 and reopening has been staggered, according to local regulations. Skate Schools in Cambodia and Afghanistan are currently closed again due to new waves of the virus. During lockdowns, Skateistan’s teams in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa pivoted to provide remote programs. These included online lessons, activity packs and support calls, as well as providing food and hygiene supplies.
The campaign will focus on four Skateistan students and their experiences of Covid-19 and the lockdowns. One of the students is Lesedi*, who is 12 and lives in Johannesburg. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit South Africa, something happened near his home which made Lesedi feel unsafe in his neighbourhood. Inner-city Johannesburg can often feel unsafe, especially for children. When the lockdown began, these feelings of insecurity became especially apparent for Lesedi and he was really struggling emotionally and mentally.
“When the lockdown started, I felt terrible because I knew I could not come to Skateistan. I knew I would not see my friends and I missed them,” said Lesedi.
Vuyo, Skateistan’s Programs Officer, remembers feeling really worried for all the students. “That was such a hard time. Many of our kids live in neighbourhoods or buildings where you don’t feel safe to play and have fun. They need safe spaces like school or Skateistan to come and just be kids. The lockdown made all of that impossible.”
Many parents also lost their jobs during this time because they were not allowed to go out and work. That’s what happened to Lesedi’s mum and she was getting really worried about being able to pay the rent. They were being threatened with eviction and the stress was piling up for them.
“That’s when we got to thinking about how we could support the families of our students,” says Vuyo. “We had a lot of ideas around remote lessons and activities they could do from home. But what they needed first was security around food and housing.”
With that in mind, the team in Johannesburg started distributing food and hygiene kits from the Skate School, which was closed for programs. They also started fundraising to help support families in Johannesburg with rent payments during the lockdown.
This support really helped Lesedi’s mum, so she was then able to focus on Lesedi and what he needed to get through this hard time. Now Lesedi is back at Skateistan and he’s rebuilding connections with his friends. He’s happy to be back on his skateboard and he can now start looking to the future.
If you want to support children like Lesedi as they return to Skateistan, you can give to the ‘Back on Board’ campaign here.
