„Skateboarders are like one big global family“ and share lessons of life on their skateboards
Saddly locally and globally people are getting more selfish and lack empathy towards others, but Skaters have a different connection, on a board everyone is equal and skin color doesn’t matter anymore”, he explains.“ Skateboarding brings the people together from different tribes, backgrounds and economic statuses.” “Some people thought we are crazy and actually laughed at us for bringing skateboards to children who have more urgent needs like food and clothing, but the action and impact speaks louder than words:”, Skateboarding is much more than a sport, ist a source for inspiration, a tool for self-empowerment teaching us „lessons of life on wooden toy“. From kids and teenagers starting to love to ride their boards up to amazing stories of streetkids, who got taken from the streets, into a home of a skateboarder, into school and maybe even for a scholarschip to the United States to train and learn with the worlds-best.
Uganda
What started in 2004 as a passion of an individual and friends, is in 2019 an established project named the „Uganda Skateboard Union“ raising ist 3rd generation of children and kids to young adults. East African park-skating (as opposed to street skating) started in Uganda in 2004, when a South African student called Shael Swart teamed up with local skater Jackson Mubiru to build a mini-ramp in the Kitintale suburb of the capital Kampala. Entirely self-built and self-funded, they persuaded a local department store to donate a couple of skateboards to the park so that the kids could join in. They called it the Uganda Skateboard Union. From the outset, the project involved the participation of the kids who lived nearby, and once it was built, it served the double purpose of being a spot where the older boys from the crew could skate, as well as providing the opportunity for those less fortunate to get started. In 2019 with the help of international partners the project includes and provides a world-class skatepark, office, workshop, solar lights and is mainly the central place for self-empowerment in Kitintale and probably even also on oft he safest places to hang around / train / practice / chat after dark. East-Africa´s first skatepark is located in the Kitintale suburb in Uganda´s Capital Kampala and free for everybody to have a good time.
Kenya
Until the last 10 years Nairobi’s urban infrastructure — featuring potholes, bumpy roads and few sidewalks — wasn’t exactly a smooth ride. Now roads and pavements are in better shape and after severals months of intense do-it-yourself-construction work funded by the german ngo skateaid with the help of the passionate local skateboarders, the dream of kenya´s first skatepark becomes reality as Shangilia skatepark opened in October 2013: At 1,200 square metres, it’s East Africa’s largest park, boasting a bowl, mini-ramp and street section with boxes and rails, as well as a basketball court and viewing platform. The park is located on the property of Shangilia School of Performing Arts. And
by most of the visitors being attenders of the Shangilia orphanage, the skatepark acts rather as a playground than a skate spot. It is a place for the children to experience something new, to overcome their doubts and most importantly to enjoy their time. You can nowadays find the local skateboarders mainly at Uhuru Park, the Shangilia Skatepark or for beginners the upcoming skate facilities at shopping malls in the capital. There are also more and more skateboarders in other cities and there is even a „secret skatepark“ at the amazing Kinondo Kwetu Beach Hotel near Diani Beach. The Skateboarding Society of Kenya is organizing the kenyan skateboarding scene in order also to lobby for the interest of their members. Many local initiatives and startups like the Sidekick Magazine, the Wanderer Skateshop or Nairobi´s first „Extreme Sports School“ are also creating small income and hopefully future job and business opportunities for the skaters.
Rwanda
Kigali, the city with the thousand hills, is a paradise for longboarding and cruising with your skateboard. Since 2016 the german ngo skateaid also constructed the countries first skatepark at the SOS Childrens Village in Kigali.
Tanzania
There are quite a lot of skateboarders spread over tanzania and there is a skatepark in ist capital dodoma, but as far as we know, the local skateboarding scene is not quite as big as in Kenya or Uganda. There are local inititiatives and skateboarding blogs and if you visit the Dar Es Salam you will also be able to meet skateboarders in the suburbs.
Ethiopia Ethiopias Capital Addis also got his first skatepark by a global network of skateboarding activists, which fundraised for the construction materials and all came together in 2017 to build the countries first skatepark open to the public. Addis Skatepark was constructed in April, 2016 in collaboration with Make Life Skate Life, a non-profit organization that works with local skateboarding communities to create free of charge, community-built concrete skateparks around the world. The activists worked alongside a team of over 60 volunteer skatepark builders and skateboarders from over 20 countries around the world as they collectively constructed Ethiopia’s first skatepark.
