South Africa

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

How to make International Women’s Day count this year

jess — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 14:40:51 +0000

How to make International Women’s Day count this year jess Mon, 03/07/2022 - 15:40

Mon, 03/07/2022 - 12:00

This March, we are celebrating International Women’s Day by inviting you to join the Citizens of Skateistan.

South Africa

This March, we are celebrating International Women’s Day by inviting you to join the Citizens of Skateistan.

The Citizens of Skateistan is a global community of students, skaters and supporters who share our vision of empowering children through skateboarding and creative education. By donating $10 per month or more, you can join the Citizens of Skateistan and play a real part in changing the lives of children all over the world.

8th March is International Women’s Day and this is celebrated in our Skate Schools around the world. 50% of Skateistan students are girls. Through our programs, and with our focus on inclusion, we provide a safe space where girls can express themselves and follow their dreams. International Women’s Day is just one day. But by joining the Citizens of Skateistan, you can make a difference to the lives of girls every day of the year.

Girls like Natalia, who lives in Johannesburg. Natalia joined the Global Girl Project in South Africa, which helps girls to find their voices, step into leadership and be a force for change in their communities. Natalia said this has given her focus and confidence: “I didn’t even know what I wanted to be, but now I dream big.”

If you’re already a Citizen of Skateistan, we want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for everything you do to support girls in our programs. You’re part of the most incredible global community which includes role models like Mimi Knoop and Sky Brown, forward-thinking funders like Be That Girl Foundation and The Skateroom and change-making students like Natalia and Sophea.

What can Citizens of Skateistan do this International Women’s Day?

Encourage at least one friend to join you and many others to make a difference to the lives of girls.

What can I do if I’m not yet a Citizen of Skateistan?

You guessed it…join today! Joining the Citizens puts your support for girls on a stable footing and allows us to make long-term plans, such as hiring more female educators, running girls-only sessions and building partnerships like Global Girl Project which give girls a head-start on becoming leaders.

Join Today

Donate Now

The photos in this post were taken by Sara Parson Terras, on a visit to Skateistan programs in Atlantis, South Africa.

Yes

Growing students need growing spaces in Johannesburg

jess — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 09:05:55 +0000

Growing students need growing spaces in Johannesburg jess Thu, 02/17/2022 - 10:05

Thu, 02/17/2022 - 12:00

Our increase in student numbers in Johannesburg is great news. But we were running out of space! A new classroom has brought new opportunities for our students.

South Africa

Over the course of 2022, Skateistan is aiming to increase our weekly student reach to 4,500 attendances. This is a huge increase and a really ambitious goal, especially given the challenges we have faced with Covid-19 and the pausing of programs in Afghanistan.

South Africa has faced some of the strictest and longest lockdowns throughout the pandemic and the Skate School gates were closed for long periods of time. We were very concerned about losing our student base and that many wouldn’t return once the lockdowns were lifted. However, the Johannesburg team is not scared of a challenge and they quickly moved to ensure that our students were still being supported and engaged by remote programs, as well as supporting the whole community through a feeding program and distributing hygiene kits.

The Johannesburg Skate School is now open again, and we’re stoked to say that it’s been busier than ever! Student attendance has been consistently over 800 per week (our target) since we reopened with girls making up more than half that number every week. This is what’s known as ‘a good problem to have’- we are so happy that so many students want to come to Skateistan….but we simply didn’t have room for them all.

So we were even happier when the German Postcode Lottery came through for us and provided funding for us to build a new classroom at the Skate School in Johannesburg. We got to work straight away on construction and we opened the new space just before Christmas 2021.

"The new space is really making a huge difference. At last we have a space which is easily accessible for all our students. It's amazing that Skateistan Johannesburg is growing so fast and this new project sends the message to our community that we're ready to respond to their needs."

Vuyo Cekiso

Programs Officer, Skateistan South Africa

The new classroom fits with a lot of our goals. Not only does it allow us to grow our programs (especially the Dropping In program, where children can get help with homework, hone their study skills and explore new hobbies), it’s also an accessible space with ramp access, meaning we can broaden the reach of our programs for children with disabilities. We worked with Boxa to create the space and they use sustainable materials which fits with our green agenda. The classroom is also fully moveable, so we can change its location in future if we need to. As we’ve learned from experience, we want to be ready to adapt our programs and our spaces to suit the needs of our students and not the other way around.

The new space is now in full use, allowing us to accommodate more students every week. In fact, over 950 students are registered to our Dropping In program alone! This is key to Skateistan being able to reach that target of 4,500 students each week - we must be flexible so that no one is left behind.

We are so grateful to the German Postcode Lottery for sharing our vision and supporting our work!

Yes

Getting ready for adult life: Nkosi's story

jess — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 14:34:19 +0000

Getting ready for adult life: Nkosi's story jess Thu, 01/27/2022 - 15:34

Thu, 01/27/2022 - 12:00

Nkosi attends Skateistan in Johannesburg. Recently he's been thinking a lot about his future and how he can plan for it. The skills he's learned in our Youth Leadership program are helping him to do this.

South Africa

Nkosi* is 17 and he lives in Johannesburg. He was born in Johannesburg but when he was younger, his family moved to KwaZulu Natal. This was a really hard transition for Nkosi. Not only did he not have friends in this new place, but his schooling was all in Zulu (he was used to lessons in English) and sadly he failed a year and had to repeat. He took this to heart and felt under confident and sad. This feeling is something he carried with him, even when he moved back to Johannesburg. He was softly spoken and sometimes withdrawn, and he wasn’t finding friends who had the same interests as him.

His mother said: “Before joining Skateistan, Nkosi was a child that did not know how to address things that were bothering him and he would just walk away. He didn’t really have friends his own age and most people his age were getting into fights and hanging out in the streets. When he had to repeat a grade, it was one of the things that affected me the most. At that point I thought he would hate school and I got really worried about it.”

After a little time back in Johannesburg, he started coming to Skateistan because a friend told him about it. He says that his first experience was “amazing because I had never seen skateboarding in real life before. I felt welcome when walking in here and the educators are always friendly towards the students.” Nkosi joined the Youth Leadership program, which he says is good because, “right now I am in the 10th grade and at this stage it is time for me to be serious about my future and the Youth Leadership program helps us with that. It teaches us about what will happen in the future and prepares us for other things we will need in the future e.g applying in the university, how to get funding, and telling us that we need to push ourselves more if we want to go to university.”

Nkosi describes that the lessons he’s learned in the program have helped him a lot to prepare for his future.

“The lessons I have learned were communication skills, life skills and not to take things personally. Because of these lessons I am more confident and sure of myself, slow to anger and very understanding. I am more self-aware. I enjoy being seen because of the confidence I have gained now.”

One particular moment that stands out for him was at the Skate School’s Global Girl Event. At the last minute, Nkosi was asked to prepare a speech and speak in front of parents and the wider community. He did an amazing job and this showed him what he’s capable of. “I didn’t know I could do this, but now you can ask me any time and I can speak publicly with ease.”

Nkosi isn’t the only one who has noticed a change in him. His Educator, Enos, says:

“His participation in other programs had developed his character. He became confident, assertive and understands who he really is. He gradually became good at skateboarding. In less than six months he progressed in his skating. He has shown that he can learn in areas where he lacks. He is always willing to help and execute his duties as a Youth Leader.”

His mother has also seen positive growth in her son: “Now he has made lots of friends at Skateistan who have similar goals to him. I am proud of him that he did not give up on school and he does well now.”

Even Nkosi’s friends have seen the change. Sean says:

“Nkosi is my role model in the skatepark because he inspires me in terms of trying new tricks. He was the first person to teach the trick “Boneless”. He is always there to assist with my homework and he makes it easy to interact with him. I see Nkosi as someone who has potential and someone who knows what he wants. He strives for perfection in everything that he does. He is kind and does not mind sharing skateboards without educators telling him to share, he is just not selfish . I admire his respect towards the educators and other students. He is growing. The Nkosi I met last year is not the same Nkosi this year. The more he comes to Skateistan the more he grows because of the things he learns.”

Our programs aim to create future leaders for a better world. If you'd like to support more young people, like Nkosi, to reach their potential, please consider becoming a Citizen of Skateistan.

*Nkosi's name has been changed in accordance with Skateistan's Child Protection Policy.

Yes

Introducing Natalia

jess — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 13:38:32 +0000

Introducing Natalia jess Mon, 01/17/2022 - 14:38

Mon, 01/17/2022 - 12:00

Natalia is 16 and she lives in Johannesburg. She's been coming to Skateistan for a while now and attends the Youth Leadership program. Through this, she is learning to set herself up for greatness.

South Africa

Being at Skateistan has been great for my self-discovery.

Natalia

Johannesburg

Natalia is 16 and she lives in Johannesburg. In her area, kids generally play indoors and she says she has only seen boys playing in the street. Natalia has been coming to Skateistan for a while now and she attends the Youth Leadership program, including ‘This Girl Can’ and ‘Global Girl Project’. These projects give girls the opportunity to develop their confidence and leadership skills and to start planning for their futures.

Natalia says that before she came to Skateistan, she was clever but unfocused and she didn’t know what she wanted from her life.

“I didn't even know what I wanted to be but now I dream big.”

For Natalia the biggest change that has come from her time at Skateistan is helping her to focus on her goals and work towards them. Beforehand, she was often distracted and she didn’t have a clear idea of where she was going. Now her dreams are crystallising:

“I want to study abroad - hopefully in Canada or Australia. And I want to work in the media, maybe owning my own multimedia company.”

At Skateistan, she made a new friend called Priscillah. They actually went to the same school but they didn’t realise they had lots in common until they bonded at Skateistan. Priscillah is confident that her friend will achieve her dreams.

“She knows who she is and knows what she wants in life. She stands up for herself and knows how to make a statement. With that I find her to be a brave person and a leader because she is already a prefect at school as well as a Youth Leader here at Skateistan as well.”

Priscilla

Natalia recalls lots of moments that were significant for her at Skateistan, including being the first to graduate from ‘This Girl Can’. She says her parents were really proud of her that day and now they support everything she does at Skateistan.

“I have learned public speaking through the ‘This Girl Can' project. I was a very shy person before, I always avoided doing it. When the Global Girl Project came it helped me practise my public speaking skills even more. I learned that we, as girls, have the power to bring change in our communities.

The other girls in the group pushed me to dream big and be a better person. Everyone in the group was just so kind, fun, and sweet. I love the career and education planning classes. I loved the social entrepreneurship sessions where we learned about writing about business plans, and making our CVs impressive. Now I know what I need to do to build my future.”

Recently, Natalia was made a prefect at her new school, even though she is pretty new there. This seemed like a huge milestone for her.

“It was a big achievement for me - I was not even expecting it. My teacher at school even said they chose it because of how I carry myself around others. I have a good way of relating to others and I can solve conflict. I have learned kindness here at Skateistan. Being at Skateistan was great for my self discovery.”

You can help other young girls like Natalia to build their own futures by becoming a Citizen of Skateistan. Donate $10 a month to get started!

Yes

Curriculum Update: Life skills vision board

alyssa — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 09:03:03 +0000

Curriculum Update: Life skills vision board alyssa Wed, 10/13/2021 - 11:03

Wed, 10/13/2021 - 12:00

In the Skate and Create program in Johannesburg, Skateistan educators introduced students to the life skills vision board lesson plan. A vision board is a collage of images and words representing a person's wishes or goals.

In the Skate and Create program in South Africa, our students learn about life skills and how they can use them to reach their full potential in life. Over the last few months, through a balance of social sports and structured learning, Skateistan educators have taught valuable life skills to our students in the skatepark and in the classroom.

Lessons in life skills cover concepts like goal setting and defining short and long term achievements, learning skatepark etiquette, positive and negative role models, and the rights of women and children. In the rights session for students, girls made posters with statements of what they believe they can do and achieve as women, understanding the importance of gender equality and reaching your own potential. Educators use many different activities to help explain these concepts to teach life skills to students. One of these activities is the famous life skills vision board.

For the last two weeks in the Skate and Create program in Johannesburg, Skateistan educators introduced students to the life skills vision board lesson plan. A vision board is a collage of images and words representing a person's wishes or goals, intended to serve as inspiration or motivation to our students.

South Africa

“Educators emphasized the importance of having a vision and a plan to execute so that every step moves you in a direction towards that vision.”

Sarah, Educator

Johannesburg

By using paper pencils, magazines, scissors and glue, students constructed their own vision for their future to better understand their goals and to have a clear picture of how they would like their lives to be in the future.

Sarah told us that every student wanted time to show off their vision board, they were excited to see what their future might look like and the opportunity to share their dreams with the people around them. “The educator also took this opportunity to ask the students what might hinder them in reaching their dreams and [the students] gave different answers. One student said she thinks not having enough funds to send her to school might hinder her in reaching her dreams and the educator asked what can you do to overcome that challenge and she answered that she can start a business that will help her pay for her education.” - Sarah

After delivering the lesson to students, Sarah said, “ I learned that students have an understanding of what they want in life but they lack the challenge to visually see their future or the tools to help them put their future on a visible scale.” That was why this lesson was so important, for students to start to be able to understand that there are tools and solutions available for them to accomplish their goals.

At the end of the day students were able to visualise their dreams, identify challenges that they might face and come up with strategies of how they can overcome or deal with these challenges.

If you'd like to support creative programming in our Skate Schools, please consider making a donation to Skateistan today.

Yes

Curriculum update: Learning to balance

jess — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 10:37:34 +0000

Curriculum update: Learning to balance jess Thu, 08/05/2021 - 12:37

Thu, 08/05/2021 - 12:00

Skateistan is all about balance. Whether that’s on a skateboard, a sense of mental wellbeing and stability or combining learning with fun times.

Over the last few months, Skate and Create students have been following our Natural Balance curriculum, which helps them understand how the natural world works and how we can find healthy balance in our own lives.

Lessons cover our own balance, like hygiene measures and virus protection, proper handwashing techniques, and healthy nutrition as well as the world around us, such as the lifecycle of plants, food chains and how to protect the environment.

Some of our students have been learning about the life cycle of honeybees and how important they are to our natural world. As Covid restrictions have meant that students cannot currently be in the Skate School, this lesson was conducted in whatsapp groups with educators. Students split up into smaller groups and role played the different stages of the honeybee’s life; from eggs to larvae, pupae and then adult bees. The students loved imagining themselves in these different stages - this helps them to see their own journey in stages too. After the class, the students turned creative and made their own illustrated versions of the lifecycle of honey bees and sent their pictures to their educators.

Over in Cambodia, students have been trying their hands at gardening. Covid lockdowns mean that our students in Phnom Penh are still learning from home, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get their hands dirty and create something beautiful! As part of their lessons on the lifecycle of plants, students have been planting seeds and nurturing them. Chilli and lemongrass have been planted and students will now care for the seeds until they mature into plants. They are really excited to see the fruits of their labor. We hope that soon they’ll be able to bring their plants into the Skate School, but for now, we are happy that their plants are brightening up their homes.

This week we were so stoked to open the doors of our Skate School in Johannesburg again. After another lockdown, students are now coming back to Skate School and getting back on their boards.

We’ve even managed to extend our programs to even younger children, through working with an Early Years partnership. Now kids as young as three can try out skateboarding in a place that feels fun and safe. We are sure their balancing skills will be second to none in no time!

If you'd like to support creative programming in our Skate Schools, please consider making a donation to Skateistan today.

Yes

Skateistan Johannesburg: A Simple Path | Insight TV | Vans

jess — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 10:01:58 +0000

Skateistan Johannesburg: A Simple Path | Insight TV | Vans jess Tue, 07/13/2021 - 12:01

Tue, 07/13/2021 - 12:00

Skateistan South Africa features in ep 2 of 'A Simple Path' on Insight TV. Check out the Skateistan section here - made possible by Vans.

South Africa

Skateistan South Africa features in ep 2 of 'A Simple Path' on Insight TV. Yann Horowitz went to Skateistan in Johannesburg to meet our staff and students and get to know the community around our Skate School. Check out the Skateistan section here - made possible by Vans. The full season of A Simple Path is available on Insight TV.

Yes

Back on Board: Meet Lesedi

jess — Thu, 27 May 2021 14:20:20 +0000

Back on Board: Meet Lesedi jess Thu, 05/27/2021 - 16:20

Tue, 06/01/2021 - 12:00

Lesedi says he felt terrible when the Skate School closed because of lockdown. Now he's Back on Board and feeling awesome!

Lesedi* is 12 years old and he’s been coming to Skateistan for four years. He has always been a social butterfly and his educators describe him as friendly, chatty and enthusiastic. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit South Africa, something happened 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. I missed Tshepo, my educator at Skateistan, because he is kind and sweet.”

Lesedi

Vuyo, our Programs Officer, remembers feeling really worried for all our 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. 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.”

Vuyo

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.

“Once we had taken care of those more basic needs, we were able to move on and start helping the students with their learning from home.”

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.

“I can say that Skateistan is really doing a lot for our children and our families.”

Lesedi's mom

Vuyo explains how the team reached out to Lesedi during the lockdown:

“We were very worried for him as we could see that his personality had changed. He wasn’t the same kid anymore and he had lost his courage and his confidence. We made it a priority to contact him frequently and to help him out. We encouraged him to find activities at home that he could do to cheer himself up. And just being there for him, letting him know that we were thinking of him really helped him.”

When the Skate School reopened, Lesedi could not wait to get back.

“It felt so good to be back on a skateboard.”

Lesedi

He really enjoys dancing and the team are giving him lots of opportunities to express himself through dance. Now that he is back in a safe space, with adults he can trust, his old, sociable personality is starting to shine through again.

“Sometimes his moods affect him. He can get angry suddenly and take this out on others. But we know this is coming from a place of stress so we are simply being there for him and helping him to build himself back up. He is taking his courage back.”

Vuyo

Stories like Lesedi’s really highlight the need for safe spaces where children are free to express themselves. When the Skate Schools closed because of Covid-19, many children felt they had nowhere in their lives where they could feel truly safe. Now that our Skate School in Johannesburg is open again, we are focusing on helping children like Lesedi to process what has happened and to rediscover the joy of community, connections and skateboarding.

Will you support us to get more kids like Lesedi Back on Board?

*Lesedi's name has been changed in accordance with Skateistan's Child Protection Policy.

Yes