Monday Motivation: Skateistan uses skateboarding to elevate education

Oliver Percovich first skated in an empty pool, while growing up in Papua New Guinea. In 2007, as a young adult, he moved to Afghanistan from Australia when his girlfriend took a job in Kabul, and brought along his skateboard. Little did he know how fateful that decision would become…

SKATISTAN: SKATING IN AFGHANISTAN

Feeling bored in Afghanistan’s desolate capital, Percovich took to skating the beleaguered city, and became a sort of pied half-piper, attracting street kids that would follow him around and ask for rides.

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Bad weather won't scare them away! An hour in the #skatepark and an hour in the classroom, our Skate and Create program in #Mazar uses creative arts to teach a variety of topics, including human rights, cultural studies, the #environment, etc. #Skateistan #children #girlswhoshred

A post shared by Skateistan (@skateistan) on Jan 7, 2019 at 8:00am PST

''I was really interested to see that girls as well as boys wanted to skate. I didn't see girls doing any other kinds of sports, so I thought that this was maybe something worth looking into.''

— Oliver Percovich, Skatistan founder

Seeing the positive impact skating had on the children — especially the girls — Percovich founded Skateistan, a grassroots ‘Sport for Development’ project on the streets of Kabul.

LAND OF SKATE

Today, Skateistan is an award-winning international organization with projects in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa.

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At #Skateistan, our Skate Schools provide safe spaces so that all children, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, economic situation or level of ability, can take part and be celebrated for who they are. Today, you can support us by starting a Facebook Fundraiser and inviting your family and friends to donate to our cause <3 #skateboarding #beapartofit

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The non-profit is the first international development initiative to combine skateboarding with educational outcomes.

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Wanna do something good today? Start a Facebook Fundraiser and help us reach our campaign goal of $150,000. All donations will support us to maintain safe spaces so that all children, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, economic situation or level of ability, can take part and be celebrated for who they are. #Skateistan #dogood #goodcause #beapartofit #skateboarding #donations

A post shared by Skateistan (@skateistan) on Nov 22, 2018 at 5:30am PST

Non-political, independent, and inclusive of all ethnicities, religions and social backgrounds, Skatistan offers both skating and general education classes for over 1000 boys and girls each week.