[HEROES] How a skate board changed the lives of kids in Addis Ababa

Everytime we will have some time (yes, not promising too much ;-)), the Ecosprinter will share in the [HEROES] section, great initiatives, grassroots projects which are making the world a little bit better. Because we believe it is through local initiatives that we will, little by little, change our societies. If you know about any small initiative, if you participated to an event, if you are initiating a project, we welcome your contributions at ecosprinter@gmail.com. We are launching this serie of articles with a short video of a small project happening in Ethiopia, which might inspire some of you.

Ethiopia is one of the African countries benefitting from one of the highest economic growth within the continent, leading some to call it the “Far East” country. However, not only growth is high, but also inequalities. One third of the Ethiopian population lives below the poverty line, equal to less than 0.60 Dollar per day.

Israel Degen was one of these kids who grew up in the mountains surrounding Addis-Abeba. He came up thinking drugs and violence were the automatic consequence of unemployment and boredom, and, inspired by the way children around him in the streets used to attach plastic bottles to their shoes, brang his first skate board to the city.

His project, “Ethioskate”, made out of skateboarding a real communautary activity, enabling kids to get engaged in building wood ramps, or learning on skateboarding.

Website is here.

Ethioskate from Aaron Hutchinson on Vimeo.