Skateistan

Plot Summary

In 2007, Oliver Percovich and Sharna Nolan arrive in Kabul with little more than a couple of skateboards. In a country where children constitute more than half the population, Oliver and Sharna soon discover, that their boards draw local children like a magnetic force. After beginning regular skateboarding sessions in an abandoned fountain, one of the few smooth surfaces in Kabul, local boys and girls from the streets start to join them on a daily basis. These initial encounters, informal at first, eventually lead to the foundation of Skateistan, Afghanistan’s first co-educational skateboarding school. With a sense of great determination, Oliver commits to build a new, state-of the-art indoor skate park – and after a year of skating in the empty fountain, Skateistan manages to construct a world-class skate park, complete with a half-pipe and a wide variety of ramps. But the new skate park is more than just a smooth surface; the facility also houses classrooms equipped with computers, locker rooms, and showers to promote basic hygiene and offers access to basic medical care. This is where Skateistan promotes assertiveness and individuality, strength and confidence, dignity and respect towards others, autonomy and, naturally, a love of skateboarding. Healthy habits, civic responsibility, information technology, the arts and languages are all taught in Skateistan’s classrooms to over 300 registered children.