<p name="8ca6">When Nthabiseng first came to Skateistan in 2016, she was lonely and didn’t feel confident. She was struggling to focus on her homework from school and she had no one to help her with things she didn’t understand. When she looked at the skatepark, she was too afraid to try.</p>

<p name="58f3">Nthabiseng takes part in the Skate and Create program, which combines skateboarding with creative, arts-based education. This is a perfect program for Nthabiseng, because it helps to build up her confidence in the skatepark as well as giving her creativity free reign. The group work that she has taken part in has helped her to form new friendships with children she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to interact with outside of Skateistan. Now Nthabiseng says she has around 25 new friends.</p>

<p name="263a">Nthabiseng has enjoyed lessons on safe spaces and the natural environment. She took part in a class about soil and gardening, which included planting their own garden at the Skate School. There have also been chances for her to bake and she loved making cupcakes, which she then helped to distribute in the local community as part of the Skate School’s Mandela Day celebrations.</p>

<p name="6ed6">Her favourite lesson so far was called ‘From Flip Flips to Kickflips’ and involved students making their own sandals. This series of lessons was designed by Tin, our Programs Officer in Phnom Penh, who trained our South Africa Educators on how to run it during a staff exchange. The footwear lesson was the first time all four Skateistan Skate Schools ran the same lesson at the same time and it was really popular with our students in all locations.</p>
