Skateistan Blog

Skateistan is Releasing a Book!

“A skateboard park and school surrounded by war makes perfect sense in a senseless world, doesn’t it?” – C.R. Stecyk III

After years of interviews, documentation, and hard work by many people, we're stoked to announce the release of Skateistan's very first book!

Skateistan: The Tale of Skateboarding in Afghanistan shares the strange and beautiful intersection of traditional Afghan society and a new generation of Afghan skateboarders and artists. Through a balanced mix of words and photographs, the book tells the tale of Skateistan, which since 2007 has taught skateboarding and creative arts to girls and boys in Kabul, Afghanistan.

This 320-page color book features inspiring and previously unpublished photographs accompanied by essays, interviews and personal stories from Skateistan’s founder Oliver Percovich and the young Afghans that have gone from being streetworking kids to teachers in the skatepark and classrooms. Full of hope, beauty, brutal honesty – and skateboards – this is a story about Afghanistan that you won’t find anywhere else.

The book’s official release date is set for June 9, 2012 in Berlin, Germany, with purchase available soon through Amazon US, the Skateistan online store, and local skateboard shops.

The book was designed by Skateistan's Art Directors Alexandra Bald and Ana Lessing who are part of the C-D-A-P collective, which will also be organizing the release event.

For an in-depth preview and more information about our book please check out the following link: http://skateistan.org/book/

For pre-ordering, fill out our form: http://skateistan.org/book/#buy

A freshly printed copy of Skateistan: The Tale of Skateboarding in Afghanistan

Packaged books leaving the printing press

Stacks of books reach the Skateistan offices in Berlin, Germany

Zahra and Frauke with the first copies of the books to arrive at the Skateistan office

Manuel getting stoked as he reads the book for the first time

Zahra, Frauke, and Manuel super-stoked!

Skateistan Yak Daqa #7 - Cambodian Carnival

In the latest installment of our 1 minute web series "Yak Daqa" we feature skaters in Cambodia for the first time! Skateistan Cambodia embarked on its first road trip to take part in "Khmarnival" Street Carnival 2012 in Sihanoukville. Fittingly, the theme of the 3-day street carnival was road safety.

Eleven of our students from PSE (Pour un Souire d'Enfant) and five staff members crammed their bags, skateboards, safety gear, costumes, props, and smiles into the van for what promised to be a most memorable weekend. The whole Skateistan crew dressed up and participated in the march, skating the streets all while promoting "Safety First" and helping out a good cause.

The annual street carnival benefits the children served by the NGO M'Lop Tapong and draws hundreds of children from near and far in Cambodia to take part in the festivities, along with thousands of spectators.

Music: Dub Addiction

Shortlisted for 2012 Beyond Sport Award

We are excited to announce that Skateistan has been shortlisted for the 2012 Beyond Sport awards. Out of the 322 entries, from 135 different countries, only 30 projects were shortlisted.

In 2011 Skateistan was shortlisted for two Beyond Sport Awards – Sport for Conflict Resolution and Sport for Education. This year, we have been shortlisted as a candidate for the Sport for Social Inclusion Award due to our in-depth programming with girls and streetworking youth.

As a shortlisted entry, Skateistan has been offered an invitiation to the Beyond Sport Summit, taking place in London from July 23 – 25. Skateistan will also have access to Beyond Sport’s global network of international sport organizations and company leaders.

On top of global recognition in their field, winners of the Beyond Sport Awards also receive a package of substantial business and strategic support and exclusive access to partnerships and media opportunities. Winners of the six Community Awards also receive funding and the official Beyond Sport Business Support Package, which help organizations to move forward and become more sustainable in the future.

We would like to thank everyone who has left comments on our applications this year. Your kind words have been award enough, and everyone at Skateistan has been moved by everything that people have written on our behalf. Don’t forget that you can still help Skateistan by leaving a comment under our application for the Sport for Social Inclusion Award. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for 2012, and best of luck all of the other shortlisters - especially our friends at the Tiny Toones breakdance school who are nominated for the Sport for Education award!

Kabul's Historic (Skate) Spots

Spring weather has officially hit Kabul and we've taken advantage of it with some street skating, most recently on the top of Bibi Maru Hill.

On this hill the Soviets built a swimming pool and Olympic diving boards in the 80s, which were never used for swimming but instead as an execution site by the Taliban in the 90s. Bibi Maru has breathtaking 360 degree views of Kabul, which you can take in while sitting on a destroyed tank. To be up there skating with the next generation of young Afghans, and seeing their smiles, is nothing short of amazing.

Renovations at our Kabul facility are being finished up this month and construction of our new Mazar-e-Sharif is going at full speed, but we can't wait to get back into the skatepark and the classrooms again. We'll keep you posted.

NYMMT Provides Support with Huge Donation

Skateistan would like to extend a HUGE thank you to the New York Morelia Marathon Team (NYMMT) for their continued support of our project. NYMMT was founded in 2006 by a group of students from Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Since their 2006 beginnings the team has raised the enormous amount of 80,000 Euros in charity pledges for running marathons, which has gone towards supporting various charities. Skateistan was lucky enough to be chosen as the recipient of their efforts in 2011. The NYMMT donated a staggering €14,000 ($18,514), an extremely significant donation that will go directly towards helping fund operations on the ground at Skateistan project sites. As an NGO operating with a very modest budget, a contribution of this amount can really make a substantial difference for our students and organization. Everyone involved with Skateistan is tremendously appreciative of the support provided by the NYMMT and look forward to working with the team in the future.

We would like to thank each of the 14 NYMMT runners who helped to make this possible: Sebastien Pabst (President), Daan Gankema, Philippe Endtz, Wigger Heslinga, Anton Austin Roell, Leon Rodenberg (Financial manager), Rutger Mol (Secretary), Berend Hesselmans, Niels Rudolphus, Jean Paul Gobel, Guy Walder, Julien Villevoye, George Parker, Robbie van Beurden. Also thanks to Peter Paul van der Werff (President of the Board of Supervision NYMMT Foundation) and everyone else involved who helped make this possible.

Skateistan Director and Founder, Oliver Percovich had this to say about the NYMMT: “We are incredible grateful for everything that the NYMMT has done to support Skateistan. This has been a really unique and successful effort by everyone involved and we hope to have their support again in 2012."

Please take the time to visit the NYMMT website and check out ways to support their efforts in the 2012 New York Marathon.