Skateistan is a skateboarding school in Kabul, engaging growing numbers of displaced youth through skateboarding.

As an independent Afghan NGO, the school reaches out to a young community largely untouched by international aid programs seeking to foster civil society development. Skateistan’s students come from all of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. The school teaches not only skateboarding, but also healthy habits, civic responsibility, information technology, the arts, and languages. Girls and boys who have attended the school roam the streets of Kabul with newfound confidence providing evidence of some of the positive changes taking place in the city. Through merchandise like T-shirts and skating equipment, Skateistan desires to eventually become independent of donor institutions.