Current Activities

Skateistan strives to tell a positive story about Afghan youth, using global media platforms to send a message of hope, unity and peace. A documentary (Skateistan - The Movie) will soon be released, detailing the construction of the school, the achievements of its students, and what it's like to grow up in 21st century Afghanistan.

At the Skateistan facility 280 regular students are receiving training from experienced skateboarders in a secure environment. Skateboards, shoes, and safety equipment are loaned on-site for the duration of classes. Currently, there are 18 classroom sessions being held per week, including a girls' journalism class, a disabled class, and a Back-to-School program that helps kids enroll or re-enroll in public school. The NGO is also running advanced art classes for girls and boys once a week, which include activities such as painting skateboards, paper mache and portrait drawing.

Classroom curriculum for the third and current semester is a two-month long theatre project with each class, based on the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Students will refer to the issues addressed by the MDGs while developing theatre productions about life as a young person in Afghanistan.

In Semester Two (April-July 2010) the curriculum was based on various aspects of Environmental Health, specifically water pollution, air pollution, deforestation and personal hygiene. In the last three weeks of semester each class created a special project that put the lessons to good use, focusing on making positive environmental change in their neighbourhoods and their city. Projects included making crafts from recycled materials, film/photo fieldtrips, watercolour paintings, garbage cleanups and planting flowers. A short video and an 18-page magazine were created from the students' work and documentation.

Watch the Semester Two video on Skateistan's environmental health class projects.

Skatepark

Skateistan is Afghanistan’s—and the world’s—first co-educational skateboarding school. The school engages growing numbers of urban and internally-displaced youth in Afghanistan through skateboarding, and provides them with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education, and personal empowerment. Our students come from all of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. They will not only develop skills in skateboarding and skateboarding instruction, but also healthy habits, civic responsibility, information technology, the arts, and languages. The students themselves decide what they want to learn—we connect them with teachers who will enable them to develop the skills that they consider important. Since Skateistan has been active in Kabul, we’ve seen that Afghan youth of all ethnicities, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds love to skateboard. Skateistan brings them together, equipping young men and women with the skills to lead their communities toward social change and development.