<p dir="ltr"><strong>Tackling cultural barriers</strong></p>

<p dir="ltr">In Afghanistan, girls are often discouraged from participating in sports or physical activity, especially in public. Skateistan is often their first and only opportunity to get involved with sports, but this sometimes comes with apprehension for their families and their wider community.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr">An example of this is a student named Atefa* in Mazar-e-Sharif, who originally came to Skateistan with her friends around four years ago. Shortly after she started attending, her family told her she had to stop coming as they were concerned that it wasn’t appropriate for a girl to skateboard. Our Community Educator went to visit her family and invited them to come and see Skateistan for themselves. She explained that girls have female educators and separate classes from boys. She showed them around the classrooms and the skatepark and explained what Atefa could learn by continuing to come to Skateistan. Their visit reassured them that the Skateistan programs would be good for her, and Atefa was allowed to return to her classes.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr">Four years later, and Atefa is still coming to Skateistan. She’s now a Youth Leader and she was the first girl in Afghanistan to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFPic8ARGgA">land a kickflip</a>. Recently, she even had the opportunity to travel to China with another student and our Programs Officer Noozai, to take part in a <a href="https://www.skateistan.org/blog/local-update-skateistan-china">skateboarding training camp</a> set up by the Olympic Committee. Without our focus on community engagement, Atefa would be missing out on so much.&nbsp;</p>
