International Blog:

In Afghanistan, there are many unfortunate events going on. War, terror and desolation is everywhere. Sadly, many children live here. About 1 in 5 people are school age children. To help the children cope with these events Oliver Percovich is determined to open the first Afghan skating school, Skateistan! Most children have never played a sport in their lives and waste no time learning to skateboard. Lots and lots of children are finding this as their first sport. Percovich has raised the money to build Skateistan, but is still waiting for permission. The Afghan children say they have found their strength with skating. For Afghan girls the opportunity for skating is short because when they reach puberty they cannot come in contact with men outside her family. Many people are poor and use skatingboarding to improve their lives. I think this is a very great thing Oliver has done because it is improving the lives of many people and making people happier. Also, I think it is letting people make money and its a new way of travel. Tons of opportunities are formed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/sports/othersports/26skate.html?_r=1&ref=asia