Skateistan is an international, non-profit organization focused on creating safe spaces for children to play, learn and develop their skills through skateboarding and creative arts. To celebrate the latest collab between Vans and Skateistan, we decided to get to know more about the organization and skateboarding in Afghanistan. We invite you to read this little interview with Noorzai Ibrahimi, who is living proof of Skateistan’s great work and a perfect example of how it benefits everyone involved in the programs that empower young people through skateboarding.
Hello Noorzai! Could you please introduce yourself?
Hello Mateusz, thanks for your kind support during these times.My name is Noorzai Ibrahimi. I studied law in Afghanistan. I’m 27, and it’s more than 10 years since I started skateboarding. I recently evacuated from Afghanistan.
You’re welcome, man! I heard you did a great job for others and for skateboarding, so I think the good naturally comes back to you. I hope Warsaw has been treating you well since you arrived here. How do you like it here so far?
Thanks, bro. Since I came to Warsaw, I feel like I have a new community and a new family. There is good communication here, and I met some kind people – like you!
Thank you! Could you please tell me about your beginnings in skateboarding? When was the first time you saw skateboarding? How did you start? And how old were you then?
I first started skateboarding around 2008 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Back then I was working in the streets of Kabul. I had a scale, and I was weighing people on the streets to earn money and support my family. One day I saw people skateboarding in a fountain. It was Oliver (one of the Skateistan founders) and some other locals. They were taking turns skating one board and they were open to let everybody try. This is how it all started for me!
Was skateboarding very popular in Kabul at that time? Did it become more popular in recent years through the work of Skateistan?
That day was the first time I saw someone skateboarding! Which means, at that time, skateboarding was a very new sport in Afghanistan. Now it is more popular, and many people know about it, especially the young generation. Skateistan was the first organization that introduced skateboarding to my country.
When you met them, were they already thinking of starting the organization, or did the Skateistan idea come up later?
As the executive director of Skateistan described, he had no plan to build an organization in the beginning, but when he saw the interest from the children around him, he wanted to build a space so that the children could learn skateboarding. At the start, fountain sessions were held every day at 04:00pm. We had about one or two hours to skate. There were many children and only a few skateboards at the beginning. Slowly, the number of skateboards increased. It was very hard to learn because we had to take turns with the boards. Those were the beginnings of what became Skateistan later on.
Oh, I see. It seems to me like your whole skateboarding experience is one great connection with the organization. Your beginnings are connected with the people who founded Skateistan, and you are involved with them until today. When was the first time you heard the name Skateistan? Did you join the organization at the beginning?
I was associated with them from the very beginning. I think at that time there was no name for the organization. Back then, I was a street-working kid and skateboarding was just a part of my play time. Afterwards, the organization expanded, and the project was built. The first name for it was ASTO (Afghanistan Skateboarding Training Organization). So, this was the first time I heard the organization’s name. I was still in the skate school. I started as a student, then I became part of the youth leader program, and from there I went on to be a volunteer, part time instructor, educator, sports coordinator, and finally programs officer!
You went through lots of different job positions over the years! You probably learnt a lot during this whole time. Can you tell me if there are any particular skills that you’ve learnt throughout this time that you found helpful in your life in general?
Yes, I started from the very beginning! I learned a lot from every single job I had at Skateistan. Getting to learn English and leadership are special skills for me. I’ve liked all of the jobs so far. I loved management a lot, which was part of my job recently, and, sure, teaching skateboarding is another special thing for me. It feels rewarding for me to have started off my job as volunteer and having gotten to my recent job as an officer.
Afghan society is facing a difficult situation right now – I believe safe spaces, like the ones you helped to create, are very important for the community in these times. Can you tell us what will happen with the Skateistan program in Afghanistan and worldwide?
As of now, it seems a bit difficult to create safe spaces, but we have our spaces in Afghanistan, which might be useful when the new, regime-approved documentations for Skateistan will make it possible to re-start the programs there. Skateistan is working to find solutions to rebuild the programs and provide safe spaces for children. It will be a bit difficult for older girls to join, but we are hopeful and seeking possibilities to be able to invite everyone.
I hope you guys will be able to make it happen for everyone. Skateboarding is for everybody! What has always seemed a great success of Skateistan to me was that you guys were teaching skateboarding to both males and females, and it seemed like you were creating a new cultural pattern in a conservative country. Is skateboarding popular amongst women in Afghanistan? Are there many female skateboarders?
Thanks for your good words! Skateistan was the only place in Afghanistan providing skateboarding for both men and women equally. At the beginning, some families tried to prevent their daughters from joining skate/sport sessions, but step by step, their minds were changed! We do have many female skateboarders in the country, some of them left Afghanistan as the situation changed but many of them are still there. We were holding female skateboarding contests and they went really well recently.
Do you think it was difficult to show Afghan society that skateboarding is good for you no matter the gender? Was it difficult to change the minds of those who wouldn’t approve of women doing activities like skateboarding? Did you have situations when people would disapprove of you teaching skateboarding to women?
I would say yes. It was very difficult at the beginning, and there are still a lot of families in the big cities who don’t let their girls play sports! We had female educators teaching girls, and male educators teaching boys. I was working to teach female educators, who were over 18 years old, so that they were able to help and teach skateboarding to younger girls. There were a lot of cases where families disapproved of their girls joining sport/skate sessions. Changing their minds will take time for sure!
And that’s a great future goal – to show societies around the world that we are all equal and that skateboarding can do good things for all of us and our kids. Could you tell me what the future goals/plans for Skateistan and for yourself are?
Yes, it makes a lot of sense! With Skateistan, we want to expand our programs and build more safe spaces around the world to empower children through skateboarding and education. In addition to Afghanistan, we have projects going all around the world in different countries, like in the Republic of South Africa or Cambodia. As for myself, I will continue to work with Skateistan, to help us reach these goals. Besides that, I will continue my studies and support my family. All of them are still in Afghanistan, and I hope I will be able to help them.
I also do, man! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you and your family! How can a regular person like me, support the work of Skateistan around the world?
Thanks, bro! Everybody can help our organization by becoming a citizen of Skateistan. You get your citizenship by donating 10$ per month, or you can also make a one-off donation. The money is used to open and run Skateistan’s programs in different parts of the world. If anybody wants to help on the programs in their countries, they can contact Skateistan and try bringing their help in whichever way they feel like. You can also find more information about this at www.skateistan.org. Thanks to everybody for supporting our work around the world!
Is there anything else you would like to add? Thanks, or greetings for anyone?
First of all, I want to thank you for all your support and enthusiasm! Secondly, I want to thank all the people around the world who are helping organizations like Skateistan. And I also want to give special thanks to Sharna Nolan and Kenny Reed who were helping and supporting me a lot to have a better perspective for my new life here in Poland.
Thank you for the good talk, Noorzai! I’m happy I could ask you about all of this! I wish you all the best in the future and hope everything will go smoothly and easily for you from here! Thanks for the good work you are doing for skateboarding, and I hope to see you soon on a skateboard <3
Wywiad: Mateusz Kowalski
Zdjęcia: Kuba Bączkowski
