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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 13 2015, @03:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-forget-your-helmet dept.

Adele Peters reports at Fast Company that eight years ago Australian skateboarder Oliver Percovich got out his board on the streets of Kabul and was quickly surrounded by crowds—especially children—who had never seen a skateboard before. He realized that he could use skateboarding as a draw to help get more kids back in the educational system, and eventually officially launched Skateistan as a back-to-school program. Since no one had seen a skateboard in Afghanistan before the program started, skateboarding wasn't seen as inappropriate for girls. "There were no preconceived ideas or notions about whether it was something that girls or boys did, let alone it being seen as a sport or either a feminine or masculine thing," says Jessica Fulford-Dobson. "It is regarded as something that the children can play and have fun with, a simple board with wheels like a toy, that they can do in the safe confines of a school environment and feel free to fly around."

It's also working as a way to help increase female enrollment in school, especially for children who work on the street and might not have otherwise gotten an education. The program helps empower girls. "It’s impossible to avoid how much joy and action there is as the girls whiz up, down and around the hall," says Fulford-Dobson. "One amazing thing about skateboarding is that it demonstrates—perhaps more than many other sports—just how tough and resilient these girls, or any girls, can be." In a country where girls aren’t allowed to ride bikes, and where only 20 percent of women aged 15 to 24 are literate, Skateistan has made skateboarding the most popular sport for girls. “I think initially when Oliver the founder turned up in Kabul with three skateboards, he was like the pied piper – he’d lend them to children and have to wrestle them back because they were enjoying it so much,” explains Fulford-Dobson. Since its beginnings, Skateistan has established the two largest sports centers in Afghanistan and opened centers in South Africa and Cambodia.

 
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  • (Score: 4, Touché) by Tork on Wednesday May 13 2015, @07:05AM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 13 2015, @07:05AM (#182263)
    I dare you to leave this on the screen until your mom sees it when she comes down to tidy up the basement. The worst case scenario is we won't hear from you for two weeks.
    --
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