“There were all these rules about what girls could not do,” says Oliver Percovich, Founder and Executive Director of charity Skateistan.
“But because skateboarding was so new, there were no rules about it. It was a kind of loophole”.
Avid skater Percovich moved to Afghanistan back in 2008 and brought some of his favourite skateboards along with him. He noticed the Afghan locals were very interested every time he went skating, and so began to introduce the sport to the country.
Years later, Skateistan is a multi-national charity that aims to keep kids in school using skateboarding as a hook. The charity now has outfits in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa.
Speaking particularly about Skateistan Afghanistan, Percovich says girls were a surprising – and welcome – addition to his program.
“I started to give the girls around twice the time as I did the boys. Then they got really good, and then started beating the boys”.
You can watch the whole story in the video below.
