Breaking down cultural barriers

3 March 2010

As soon as Australian aid workers Sharna Nolan and Oliver Percovich set down their backpacks and skateboards in Kabul in 2006 they were surrounded by eager children begging to learn how to skate.

Beginning with just the three boards they had with them, the duo developed a small school giving free skate lessons to street children.

Their success prompted them to seek funding to establish an indoor skateboarding venue so they could teach more young people and hold separate classes for girls and teenagers.

Three years later Kabul's largest indoor sports facility and skate park was opened.

Sharna Nolan took up a position in Kabul with the Afghanistan Reconstruction and Evaluation Unit after completing a Master of International Development and Environmental Analysis at Monash in 2005.

She went on to complete a Master in Environmental Science and Policy at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

"I was aware of the power of skateboarding to bring people together from my travels around the world," Sharna said.

"No matter which country or what language people spoke, skateboarding transcended all social barriers. So when I took up the position in Kabul I naturally took my board with me."

Sharna said the sport brought children together from different cultural backgrounds whose parents might normally be enemies.

"Our goal is to create a positive and youth-owned space where children of all classes and ethnicities can get together, learn life skills and build relationships," she said.

"Our message is 'build ramps not bombs'."

Since completing postgraduate study, Sharna has worked for several rural development projects funded by the World Bank, European Commission, CSIRO and UNDP.

"Aid work is definitely not for everyone but through a lot of hard work, we have opened a unique youth-owned space that lets Afghan youth come together to skateboard," she said.

For more information visit the Skateistan website.