Skateistan: Empowerment through Skateboarding

"At Skateistan, our vision is to create leaders that make a better world."
Skateistan



In 2007, Oliver Percovich went to Afghanistan "carrying with him three skateboards and an open spirit". He lent his skateboards to Afghan teenagers who became the country's first skateboarders.

"As Oliver and his new friends skated around the streets in Kabul, they saw the pull that the skateboard had with youth of all socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities and genders. Skateboarding quickly created a community that overcame social divisions."

The following year, he started preparig the launch of a non-profit organisation that uses skateboarding to empower children and teenagers. At various locations (among them an orphanage) in Kabul, regular skate sessions were run which attracted dozens of (street-working) children. Girls, who are not allowed to play sports in Afghanistan, came to skate regularly.



In 2009, Skateistan began providing both skateboarding and education - the Skate and Create programme was born. Registered students spent "an equal amount of time learning in the classroom as on a skateboard". Soon, Skateistan's Back-to-School programme was launched supporting students to enroll in the public school system in Afghanistan.



Then, skate lessons for children with disabilities began to run weekly.



Meanwhile, Skateistan Cambodia and South Africa have been formed (via).

Skateistan on YouTube:

::: The Future of Skateistan: WATCH/LISTEN
::: Faranas' story: WATCH/LISTEN



photographs by Jessica Fulford-Dobson via and via and via and via and via

Bacha Posh: Gender-bending girls in Afghanistan

"They say your life becomes complete only if you have a son."
Azita Rafhat

"Whoever came [to our house] would say: 'Oh, we're sorry for you not having a son.' So we thought it would be a good idea to disguise our daughter, as she wanted this too." Azita Rafhat

For both social and economic reasons, many girls aged between five and twelve are disguised as boys and, for instance, sent to the market to sell water or chewing gum. Having a Bacha Posh is a matter of honour or reputation for some families since families without sons are pitied. It is also a means of economic survival as daughter turned into a son is sent to work and can add to the family income. In some cases, the girls decide to become Bacha Posh because living a boy's life can be an empowering experience in Afghanistan.
These girls are dressed as boys and get a male name they use when they are outside of the home. They are brought up as boys until they are about 17 or 18. At that age they are supposed to switch back to the traditional Afghan female role model. This change is not always an easy one. Disguised daughters can attend better schools and play sports, they have more freedom, freedom they lose the moment they turn into females (via and via).

"People use bad words for girls. They scream at them on the streets. When I see that, I don’t want to be a girl. When I am a boy, they don’t speak to me like that." a 15-year-old girl

"When I was a kid my parents disguised me as a boy because I didn't have a brother. Until very recently, as a boy, I would go out, play with other boys and have more freedom." Elaha

Elaha, for instance, lived as a boy for 20 years and reverted shortly before going to university. She does not "feel fully female" as her habits are not "girlish" - as a boy she used to go out, play with boys and have more freedom. She does not want to get married (via).

"If my parents force me to get married, I will compensate for the sorrows of Afghan women and beat my husband so badly that he will take me to court every day." Elaha

"I experienced both the world of men and of women and it helped me to be more ambitious in my career."
Azita Rafhat

"The tradition has had a damaging effect on some girls who feel they have missed out on essential childhood memories as well as losing their identity.
For others it has been good experiencing freedoms they would never have had if they had lived as girls.
But for many the key question is: will there be a day when Afghan girls get as much freedom and respect as boys?" BBC



::: She is My Son: WATCH



Photographs of Tamana Airways, 11, a Bacha Posh who every day after school dresses as a boy and sells biscuits, candles and drinks in Kabul's streets (via).

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photographs by Casper Hedberg via and via and via and via and via, copyright by owner

Young in age, old in experience

"I wanted to show the outside world what I see every time I meet these children, their stunning eyes and their tough life standing together in front of my lens. I want these beautiful children to be remembered by their names not as displaced Afghan refugees."
Muhammed Muheisen


Laiba Hazrat, 6 years old

Muhammed Muheisen, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Time Magazine Best Wire Photographer of 2013, spent three years taking photographs of Afghan refugees living in camps in Pakistan (via), "the largest and most protracted refugee population in the world" (via). About 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan, about one million live illegally there - a legacy of continuous conflicts in the past decades (via).


Hasanat Mohammed, 5 years old

"They are so young in age but, unlike most children they are old in experience and know how to persevere."
Muhammed Muheisen


Madina Juma'a, 4 years old

According to UNICEF, one in five Afghan children will die before reaching the age of five, 600.000 children sleep in streets, more than two million are orphans (via, 2011).


Top: left: Hazrat Babir, 7 years old; right: Gullakhta Nawab, 6 years old
Bottom: left: Zarlakhta Nawab, 6 years old; right: Abdulrahman Bahadir, 13 years old

Early recruitment of children in Afghanistan is a serious problem. In 2013 alone, at least 97 boys were recruited into armed groups, some were as young as 8 years old (via).


Hayat Khan, 8 years old

photographs via and via and via and via and via and via and via

Police & Diversity: The First Female Police Chief in Afghanistan

In 2007, a recruitment programme started adding 1000 female Afghan police officers between 2007 and 2012. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry initiated a project to encourage women to join the Afghan police force, to recruit and train them. One aim is to have 5000 policewomen by June 2014. But the real aim is not about figures. Working in the police force means having access to education and training. And it also means dealing with a great many challenges ranging from traditional perceptions of gender-related incapability to life-threatening reactions. According to a survey conducted by the UNDP in 2011, 53% of Afghans were in favour of having female police officers (via).
This month, the first female district police chief, Jameela Bayaz, was appointed in Kabul. According to an interior ministry spokesman, this step is to support the role of Afghan women in the police (via). Jameela Bayaz: "This is a chance not just for me, but for the women of Afghanistan."



Photo of military policewoman directing traffic by Keystone/Getty Images (circa 1955) via