A New Chapter

Skateistan students Skate Beyond Borders

alyssa — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 15:47:04 +0000

Skateistan students Skate Beyond Borders alyssa Wed, 11/09/2022 - 16:47

Wed, 11/09/2022 - 12:00

At Skateistan, our students inspire others and their wider communities. Our aim is to provide safe spaces for them to build a better future in which they can thrive.

Skateistan students Skate Beyond Borders.

Whether it is covid-19, a refugee crisis, or displacement from climate change, children bear the brunt of global catastrophes. Not every child gets to enjoy a full childhood, and Skateistan provides a place of safety at a very crucial time in their lives. In our latest fundraising campaign, we aim to raise a funding gap of $1.3 million by December 31 to continue expanding to new communities and providing safe spaces for children to grow and be themselves.

No matter whether it's with refugee children in Europe and the Middle East, children living with disabilities in Asia, with community groups accessing safe spaces in Latin America or at our Skate Schools in inner city South Africa, we support children to dream, play, skate and realize their full potential.

At Skateistan, our students Skate Beyond Borders.

At Skateistan, our students inspire others and their wider communities. Our aim is to provide safe spaces for them to build a better future in which they can thrive.

In August 2021, Skateistan started ‘A New Chapter’ to rebuild in Afghanistan and expand our programs to reach more children, faster. Since then, we’ve planted roots in new locations and have grown our skateboarding community to support refugee children in Lebanon, Iraq, Albania, Brussels, and Berlin with trusted adults, creative education, and safe spaces to learn and skate.

We’re rebuilding in Afghanistan. Hundreds of children participate in our signature Back-to-School program to help out-of-school children re-enter the public education system. Back-to-School students are generally from different ethnic, social, economic, and geographical backgrounds; and we prioritize girls only classes across all three locations. The students are 10 to 16 years old.

We’re so excited that we’ve met our goal for 2022! In October 2022 we officially hit our target to reach 4,500 students every week in our skateboarding and creative education programs around the world. We're now running Skateistan programs in Afghanistan, Cambodia, South Africa, Bolivia, Albania, Kenya, Belgium, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq.

Our students inspire others and their wider communities. Our aim is to provide safe spaces for them to build a better future in which they can thrive.

As we continue to reach more children in communities all over the world, we need your support to keep Skateistan rolling.

How can you help?

There are lots of ways that you can support Skateistan's latest fundraising campaign.

You can support our latest fundraising campaign ‘Skate Beyond Borders’ right now!

You can also share our campaign with your friends and family through social media.

Why not host your own fundraiser? It’s super easy to ‘add fundraiser’ on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us if you’d like help to get started.

Every week we will focus on a different student that has been impacted by Skateistan programs. Watch this space for updates!

Yes

A New Chapter - where are we now?

alyssa — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 11:28:25 +0000

A New Chapter - where are we now? alyssa Thu, 04/28/2022 - 13:28

Thu, 04/28/2022 - 12:00

In November of last year, we launched A New Chapter, a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $1.5 million by spring this year, with the aim to work in 20 locations, and reach 4,500 students every week by the end of 2022.

In August 2021, we suspended our programs in Afghanistan for the first time since 2009, when we opened the doors of our Skate School in Kabul. For over a decade, thousands of children in Afghanistan had found a safe space at Skateistan, where they could play, learn and dream. We said right from the start that we were committed long-term to the children of Afghanistan and that as soon as it was safe to do so, we would aim to restart our programs.

The crisis in Afghanistan led us to rethink our strategy. We always intended to increase the number of our Skate Schools but we had to think differently about how we can be more agile and reach more children, faster. In November of last year, we launched A New Chapter, a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $1.5 million by spring this year, with the aim to work in 20 locations, and reach 4,500 students every week by the end of 2022.

As April 2022 kicks off, we are delighted to let you know that we are now working in 15+ locations around the world, and we reach up to 3,300 students every week. We’re well on our way to reach our goal and we want to sincerely thank you, our supporters, for helping us to get there.

Read on to see how we’re progressing against these goals.

Where are we now?

Running in-person programming in Afghanistan

We are so excited to be able to run in person programs in Afghanistan again. Skateistan students are attending the Back-to-School (BTS) program, which partners with schools and services to align our students with their national curriculums. Since January we have run our food distribution program and also delivered our Skate and Create program session remotely. But there is no substitute for real contact with our students and we are so happy to be back in the classroom with them.

We are now reaching up to 400 students per week through our BTS program in Afghanistan, and we are currently running Skate and Create sessions remotely for students, reaching up to 600 students per week in attendance.

Refugee Programs

We now have Skateistan programs running in refugee camps and resettlement locations. In Rochester, NY we have been working with the amazing Friends of ROC City Skatepark. They run a program called Rolling Rochester Resettlement Project which is aimed at supporting refugees through skateboarding. At the end of February we held a demo event to encourage children to sign up and now we’re able to get started with our Skate and Create program. Our Educators there (Zainab, Belqisa, Farzad and Sohaib) are all Afghan staff who want to continue using what they learned at Skateistan to empower others.

Two of our Youth Leaders, Saeeda and Marzia, went to Albania as Kabul fell. They expressed their desire to start some skate programs there and worked with our team to get things off the ground. Dr Nida Ahmad, a Researcher and Executive Board Member of the Muslim Women in Sport Network, has been incredibly helpful in supporting our Educators and helping to smooth the process so we can start programs. Skate gear arrived from our Berlin HQ in March and now these inspiring girls are now running Skate and Create three times a week.

Lastly, we're so happy to tell you about our work in Belgium. Belgium welcomed a significant number of Afghan refugees and has several camps around the country. Although we don’t have staff there to run programs, we have been so happy to link up with Fedasil and Kapow, two incredible partners who are helping us to implement programs in two refugee camps (Koksijde and Ghent). Both camps ran demonstration days in late February and are now running Skate and Create sessions weekly for both younger and older students.

We are reaching up to 300 children so far across all of our refugee program locations in Rochester, Albania, and Belgium.

Expansion locations

In Skateistan’s new chapter, we planted roots in new locations around the world to grow our skateboarding community. With our partners, we’re running Skate and Create for new students in Jordan, Bolivia, Kenya, South Africa, and Lebanon. These sessions focus on girls’ inclusion, empowerment and integration between different communities.

Jordan

In Jordan we are partnering with 7Hills Skatepark, who already run amazing skate programs in Amman. Together, we’re running Skate and Create for new students, who are a mix of Jordanian children and children with a refugee background, in Zarqa and Irbid.

Bolivia

In Bolivia, we’re proud to be working with Ayni Skate Project to run Skateistan programs in La Paz, and La Viacha, Bolivia. Using the Pura Pura skatepark (built by Make Life, Skate Life) we are running Skate and Create sessions and Youth Leadership, which focus on creativity and inclusion. In Bolivia with Ayni Skate Project, over 50% of students who have joined the program are girls, a product of employing many female educators in programs and skate sessions. Together through our programs, and with our focus on inclusion, we provide a safe space where girls can express themselves and follow their dreams.

Kenya

We’ve started working in partnership with Project Elimu, which runs dance and educational programs in Kibera, Nairobi. Now the project is also offering Skateistan’s Skate and Create program, to encourage children to skate, learn and explore their role in their community.

South Africa (Atlantis)

Skateistan South Africa has now expanded from its base in Johannesburg to the Western Cape. In partnership with local schools, we are now running our Skate and Create program for over 100 children in Atlantis. This provides a space where children can enjoy skateboarding and creative sessions safely, with adults they can trust and look up to.

Lebanon

Emphasizing on early education in order to facilitate and ease entering school, Skateistan partnered with Just Childhood, who are based in Beirut, Lebanon. We are now running our signature Skate and Create program there together. The majority of our students in Beirut, Lebanon are Syrian refugees, and currently up to 100 children attend our programs together with Just Childhood.

See how we’re progressing against these goals - check out our new locations map.

Thanks to your support, Skateistan is writing a new chapter in Albania, Jordan, Lebanon, Atlantis, and Kenya. There are children all over the world who need safe spaces to skate, dream, and learn. With our focus on girls' inclusion, empowerment and integration between different communities, we are connecting more children with opportunities to make them leaders for a better world.

Support Skateistan’s new chapter by making a donation today at https://www.skateistan.org/a-new-chapter.

Yes

A New Chapter for refugees

jess — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 08:30:54 +0000

A New Chapter for refugees jess Fri, 03/18/2022 - 09:30

Fri, 03/18/2022 - 12:00

Skateistan is excited to announce that we're now running programs in refugee camps around the world!

Last summer we had to suspend our programs in Afghanistan and temporarily close our Skate Schools as the government fell. Many of our staff fled the country at that time and became refugees, scattered around the world.

What they had experienced in those last few days and weeks in Afghanistan was immensely traumatic. But for a lot of our staff, they still had the same desire to serve their community, wherever they are. This formed into an idea: we could run our programs within the refugee camps. By doing this, we could continue to keep the vibes of Skateistan Afghanistan flowing. We could help Afghan children who had fled their country and everything they knew, and we could also help some of our staff members start to build new lives in their adopted homes.

It has taken some time, but we are so happy to say that we now have Skateistan programs running in refugee camps and resettlement locations. In Rochester, NY we have been working with the amazing Friends of ROC City Skatepark. They run a program called Rolling Rochester Resettlement Project which is aimed at supporting refugees through skateboarding. At the end of February we held a demo event to encourage children to sign up and now we’re able to get started with our Skate and Create program. Our Educators there (Zainab, Belqisa, Farzad and Sohaib) are all Afghan staff who want to continue using what they learned at Skateistan to empower others. We are awed by their amazing spirit.

"For many of the students, this is the first time they have set foot on a skateboard. I see the same sense of excitement and smiles that I saw in our students in Afghanistan. This is the same for our newly arrived students experiencing skating for the first time and easy access to many of their previously unattainable dreams.”

Zainab, Skateistan Country Manager for Afghanistan

Two of our Youth Leaders, Saeeda and Marzia, fled to Albania as Kabul fell. They expressed their desire to start some skate programs there and worked with our team to get things off the ground. Dr Nida Ahmad, a Researcher and Executive Board Member of the Muslim Women in Sport Network, has been incredibly helpful in supporting our Educators and helping to smooth the process so we can start programs. Skate gear arrived from our Berlin HQ a couple of weeks ago and now these inspiring girls are now running Skate and Create three times a week. At the moment they are waiting to establish a permanent location for their programs, but in the meantime, they are running sessions in a hotel carpark. Way to make the best of a tricky situation!

"Your help makes all Afghan children in Albania smile. I am energized by their smiles. The grief of being away from my family is reduced."

Marzia, Skateistan Educator

Albania

And lastly we’re so happy to tell you about our work in Belgium. Belgium took a significant number of Afghan refugees and has several camps around the country. Although we don’t have staff there to run programs, we have been so happy to link up with Fedasil and Kapow, two incredible partners who are helping us to implement programs in two refugee camps (Koksijde and Ghent). Both camps ran demonstration days in late February and are now running Skate and Create sessions weekly for both younger and older students.

“Skateistan leads by example. Let’s keep it rollin’ and providing those smiles here in Belgium in the camps. The world needs these future leaders.”

Matthias, Kapow

Belgium

We never would have thought that we could create something positive out of the dark days in Afghanistan last summer. We are amazed by the spirit and determination of our Afghan staff, many of whom started out as Skatiestan students, who now want to pass on what they have learned, even when they’re going through such difficult times themselves. For us, this is the true meaning of our vision: creating future leaders for a better world.

If you want to support Skateistan to run more programs like these, consider joining the Citizens of Skateistan today.

Yes

A New Chapter in Afghanistan

jess — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 09:33:47 +0000

A New Chapter in Afghanistan jess Tue, 01/11/2022 - 10:33

Tue, 01/11/2022 - 12:00

As many of you will know, last year we suspended our programs in Afghanistan as the security situation changed. We are so happy to let you know that we have recently restarted our programs in Afghanistan!

As many of you will know, last year we suspended our programs in Afghanistan as the security situation changed. We said right from the start that we were committed long-term to the children of Afghanistan and that as soon as it was safe to do so, we would aim to restart our programs.

As 2022 kicks off, we are delighted to let you know that we have now begun to run programs once again in Afghanistan. Over the last few months, the needs of the community have changed. Around 90% of Afghans currently face food insecurity and many, many more children are now out of school than before. For these reasons, we have adapted our programs to meet the current needs of our students and their families.

Our first project is food distribution. The country is facing an uncertain future as the large amounts of international aid that supported the economy have largely dried up. This is affecting Afghan families on a daily basis and many of our students and their families are lacking food. So far we have distributed over 850 food parcels to our students’ families, each one containing enough food for a month for an average-sized family. We hope to increase this to reach 1000 families in the next few weeks. We're also supplying families with fuel packages as the winter months are very tough. The food parcels include flour, peas, rice and oil. This is not entirely new to Skateistan - during the covid lockdowns in Afghanistan and South Africa, we also began distributing food and our Back-to-School students have always received a hot meal as part of the program. Equally in South Africa we are currently running a nutrition program, which provides kids with a healthy meal before they start skating. It’s all about listening to what our community tells us they need and responding in the best way we can.

We have also begun to run our Back-to-School program once again in Afghanistan. Back-to-School is for children who are out of formal education and has always been a chance for children to enter or re-enter formal schooling. There are many uncertainties at the moment in Afghanistan as to who will be allowed to complete their schooling and many children have been displaced from their home towns by the upheaval in the summer months last year. So there are many children who need this chance at education, as well as the structure and focus that daily lessons can bring in uncertain times. At the moment, we are running this program remotely for girls and boys. We hope to be able to begin running in-person classes very soon.

We promised that we would not turn our backs on the children of Afghanistan. We’ve been working constantly to be in a position where we can once again offer some level of support to our communities and let our students know that they have not been forgotten in the chaos and confusion of last year’s events. We couldn’t have done this without the incredible support of our global community, who have stood by us and put faith in us to keep going. From the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to thank each and every person who has continued to support us in these extremely difficult times. With your help, we can continue to grow our programs in Afghanistan and around the world.

The Skateistan story has changed, but it will carry on. Can you help us to write the next chapter? Donate today.

Yes

A New Chapter in....Atlantis, South Africa

jess — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 15:29:35 +0000

A New Chapter in....Atlantis, South Africa jess Mon, 12/13/2021 - 16:29

Thu, 12/16/2021 - 12:00

Skateistan has started a new chapter. We’re expanding our programs to reach thousands more children in new locations. The good news is, we’ve already begun! Read on to find out more about our new programs running in Atlantis, South Africa.

Skateistan has started a new chapter. We’re expanding our programs to reach thousands more children in new locations around the world. By the end of 2022, we aim to be operating in 20 locations and reaching 4,500 students each week. And the good news is, we’ve already begun! Read on to find out more about our new programs running in Atlantis, Western Cape, South Africa.

Location: Atlantis, Western Cape, South Africa

Average number of weekly students: 80

Girls’ participation: 23%

Programs running: Skate and Create, Dropping In

In August, we started running programs in Atlantis, South Africa. Although this is a completely new location for us, we have years of experience of working in South Africa, thanks to our Skate School in Johannesburg. Now we’ve entered into a unique partnership with public schools in the area to bring skateboarding into children’s daily lives. The schools already have simple skateparks and now we’re able to help children, in both high schools and primary schools, build up their skills in the skatepark, as well as learning more about how they can change their communities for the better.

Yes

A New Chapter in....Kenya

jess — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 10:10:06 +0000

A New Chapter in....Kenya jess Thu, 12/09/2021 - 11:10

Thu, 12/02/2021 - 12:00

Skateistan has started a new chapter. We’re expanding our programs to reach thousands more children in new locations around the world. And the good news is, we’ve already begun! Read on to find out more about our new programs running in Kenya.

Location: Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya

Partner: Project Elimu

Average number of weekly students: 104

Girls’ participation: 51%

Programs running: Outreach

In July, we began running programs in Kibera, the largest informal settlement in East Africa. Around 250,000 people live in Kibera and the community faces many challenges, including access to electricity and clean water. Our amazing partner in Kibera is Project Elimu, which runs dance programs as a way of empowering children. Now they’ve added skateboarding to their programs and local children are super excited! We’re running Outreach programs in Kibera, offering children their first taste of skateboarding as well as creative activities.

Yes

A New Chapter in....Bolivia

jess — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 11:27:51 +0000

A New Chapter in....Bolivia jess Wed, 12/01/2021 - 12:27

Thu, 12/02/2021 - 12:00

Location: La Paz, Bolivia

Partner: Ayni Skate Project

Average number of weekly students: 36

Girls’ participation: 70%

Programs running: Skate and Create, Youth Leadership

In August, we began running programs in South America for the very first time! Teaming up with Ayni Skate Project in La Paz, Bolivia, we are now running weekly programs at the Pura Pura skatepark (built by Make Life, Skate Life). In Bolivia, we are running Skate and Create and Youth Leadership and the programs have a focus of inclusion of all, especially children from indiginous backgrounds, and girls’ empowerment. This is a really exciting development for Skateistan and we’re stoked to be able to work with Ayni on a completely new continent for us!

Yes

A new chapter for Skateistan

jess — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:12:07 +0000

A new chapter for Skateistan jess Wed, 11/17/2021 - 15:12

Wed, 11/17/2021 - 12:00

Skateistan is embarking on a new chapter. One which will see us expand around the world to reach thousands more children. Find out how the Skateistan story continues.

A crisis in Afghanistan

In August 2021, we suspended our programs in Afghanistan for the first time since 2009, when we first opened the doors of our Skate School in Kabul. For over a decade, thousands of children in Afghanistan had found a safe space at Skateistan, where they could play, learn and dream. Now our future in Afghanistan is uncertain. Many of our staff have fled the country, but we’re determined that we’ll keep supporting the children of Afghanistan in any way that we can. We hope to restart programs there soon, but for now, that chapter of our story remains unwritten.

A New Chapter

The crisis in Afghanistan and the suspension of our programs forced us to rethink our model. We want to be able to reach as many children as we can, and we know there is a need for our programs all over the world. So now we’re embarking on a new chapter. This new chapter will see us expand rapidly, to 20 locations by the end of 2022. We aim to reach 4,500 students each week by the end of next year. We’ll do this by working in partnership with other organizations, by experimenting with different types of programming and always striving to reach children who are often forgotten and left behind.

We’ve already begun!

It sounds ambitious, but we’ve never been scared of a challenge. And the great news is, we’ve already begun! In just the last few months, we have already started working in Jordan, Bolivia, Atlantis (Western Cape, South Africa) and Kenya, in addition to our long-standing Skate Schools in Cambodia and Johannesburg.

In Jordan, Bolivia and Kenya we have three amazing new partners, who are now running Skateistan programs (7Hills Skatepark, Ayni Skate Project and Project Elimu respectively). This new model of working together with other organizations means we can expand our programs faster, while benefiting from the expertise and experience of these incredible organizations. Check them out!

In Atlantis, we are running programs in public schools as an expansion of our South Africa Skate School. It’s amazing to see so many children enjoying a completely new activity.

How can you help?

There are lots of ways that you can help Skateistan to write the next chapter of our story.

You can support ‘A New Chapter’ right now!

You can also share our campaign with your friends and family through social media.

Why not host your own fundraiser? It’s super easy to ‘add fundraiser’ on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us if you’d like help to get started!

And lastly, watch this space! We will keep bringing you updates on the campaign and the exciting developments at our new expansion locations. And when we have news from Afghanistan, we’ll be sure to share it here.

Yes

A New Chapter in....Jordan

jess — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 15:23:26 +0000

A New Chapter in....Jordan jess Mon, 11/15/2021 - 16:23

Thu, 11/25/2021 - 12:00

Location: Zarqa and Irbid, Jordan

Partner: 7Hills Skatepark

Average number of weekly students: 21

Girls’ participation: 26%

Programs running: Skate and Create

A few months ago, we started a partnership with long-term friends of Skateistan, 7Hills Skatepark. 7Hills are based in Amman, Jordan and have been running community and skate programs for years. They focus on inclusion and integration and have a wealth of experience in working with refugees, who make up a large proportion of Jordan’s population. Here at Skateistan we’ve always been inspired by the work of 7Hills, so we were stoked to be able to start working together this year. Currently, 7Hills staff are running our Skate and Create program in two new locations - Zarqa and Irbid.

Jordan is just one of four new Skateistan locations. Watch this space for news of the others, and join our campaign to begin A New Chapter for Skateistan.

Yes