The construction of our new skatepark facility next to Ghazi Stadium in Kabul continues on, with the support of the Abbasy Construction Company, Ltd (ACCL). ACCL has contributed $200.00 to the project.
The all-inclusive skateboarding complex will feature ramps, mini-ramps, curbs, banks, two classrooms with high-speed internet and computers, a first aid center, a canteen and snack bar, offices overlooking the premises, four showers and washrooms for boys, four separate showers and washrooms for girls, a secure entrance, and three emergency exits.
The construction site is 5,248 square meters large, and the building itself will cover 1,750 square meters. The facility will be completed in August.
Several news outlets have featured stories about our celebration of international Go Skateboarding Day this Monday, and the laying of the cornerstone at our new skatepark next to Ghazi Stadium this Tuesday. Read all about it:
WorldChanging
Axis of Logic
Jezebel
Transworld Skateboarding
Pajhwok Afghan News
KSDK 5
National Post
On June 21 we’ll be hosting a skate-a-thon and competition in honor of Go Skateboarding Day, a holiday on which we recognize the value of skateboarding to youth in societies across the world. Join the Skateistan students as they skateboard from the Ghazi Stadium to Macroryan. There will be a celebratory skateboarding competition upon arrival at the empty fountain (across from the Istanbul restaurant) in Macroryan.
We are also launching our line of Skateistan clothing in Kabul. Tee shirts are priced at $30 and are available in any color you like, as long as it is black. They’re also available for purchase online here.
Rick Westhead, the South Asia bureau chief of the Toronto Star, wrote a front-page story today about his visit to the Macrorayon skate school.
The piece, titled “Little wheels change lives in a war zone,” is available here.
McSweeney’s, the independent literary quarterly created (along with a publishing house of the same name) in 1998 by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers, has recently published an interview with Skateistan founders Sharna Nolan and Oliver Percovich.
Joel Rice conducted the interview for his column “Flip: A Column About Skateboarding.” The piece appears in Issue 31 (released May 6, 2009) and is available here.
For the past two months, we have been holding a design competition in cooperation with the internet-based creativity agency Trawlix. Participating designers created banners, Flash movies, and animated GIFs for Skateistan. The jury has chosen the winners out of more than sixty submissions. View the winning designs here.
The designs are available for embedding in external websites. If you would like to use one, please write us.
The feminist gossip website Jezebel.com, a branch of the Gawker media network, posted a story yesterday about the girl skaters in our program.
This afternoon, Skateistan will hold a celebration for all of its skate students in commemoration of International Children’s Day. The holiday was first observed in Turkey in the year 1920.
Tilak Pokharel, a representative from UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan), has written an article that features many of the skate students and reports on the construction of the skatepark next to Ghazi Stadium.
UNAMA has also posted a photograph from its recent visit to Skateistan as the online Photo of the Day.
The German media project Arte TV Tracks is featuring a piece on Skateistan. Read and watch (article in German, feature in French) here.
