. ispo.com : Skateistan – Afghan Skate School - 21 May 2009 - 12:46
ispo Social Award winter 2009
For the first time, ispo awards exceptional social engagement in sports with a special award. This years prize goes to "Skateistan", the first Afghan skate school located in Kabul where boys and girls not only learn how to skate. They practice social responsibility and peaceful networking in a country marked by wars. Those people need help - your help. During ispo, donations will be collected to support this admirable project.
For decades, war-torn Afghanistan has been ravaged by violence and political instability. Sadly, the country also currently harbors one of the world’s youngest populations: 70% of Afghanistanis are under the age of 25, including the world’s highest per capita number of primary school-aged children. Fostering the positive growth of young people in a troubled environment presents a number of challenges, but Australian skateboarder Oliver Percovitch is attempting to make a difference. Together with Sharna Nolan and Travis Beard, Percovitch started “Skateistan,” the first co-educational skateboarding school in Kabul. The fun activity brings positive energy into the lives of the next generation – even if it's only for a couple of hours per day. “The vision,“ explains Percovitch, “is to develop a program that empowers the youth to take leadership in issues important to them and to build networks that will counter current ethnic barriers." Skateistan thus provides new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction and education. Students are selected from a range of different cultural backgrounds to teach them in skateboarding, project management, life skills and English. "Every skateday is an emotional present,” says Sharna Nolan. “As soon as we lay down our boards in Kabul, we are surrounded by the eager faces of children of all ages, begging us to teach them how to skate." In the end, the project provides an opportunity for young people to find both purpose and education in a city known recently for filling international headlines with troubling news.
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