sports
Kabul's First Skatepark
In a place ravaged by years of war, there is something new taking place: Afghan youth propelled by a deck on four wheels and armed with an abundance of self confidence and a new pair of skate shoes.
Skateistan is a co-ed skateboard school and the group behind Kabul's first skatepark, says the school's founder, Sharna Nolan. The school engages growing numbers of urban and internally-displaced youth in Afghanistan through skateboarding, and provides them with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education, and personal empowerment, according to their website. The main objective of Skateistan is to build the confidence of Afghan kids and to give them a voice, as Nolan explains in the video below. It's been amazing for Nolan to watch these youth become empowered through skateboarding.
There's nothing like watching an Afghan woman roll down a ramp for the first time and she has achieved something she never thought she would.
SKATEISTAN: TO LIVE AND SKATE KABUL from Diesel New Voices on Vimeo.
Digg
Facebook
Google Buzz
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Twitter
Global Economy Won't Score at This Year's World Cup
It's probably no surprise that for big-time soccer fans, watching the world cup is more enjoyable than working. But breaks taken to check the latest score and watch part or all of the game collectively add up to big dips in productivity, according to a recent Atlantic Monthly article on the economics of the World Cup.
As the tournament gets closer to the finals there are even bigger slides in productivity. The Center for Economics and Business Research estimates that the price tag for a month of sports-induced distraction amounts to $2.8 billion.
From the Archives
How Soccer Explains the World
From the Archives
Recent comments
on Tom's Shoes succeeds at marketing, but Warby Parker wins for a better anti-poverty model
on 20 tiny strokes of genius: Mercy Corps puts social innovations on display
on How Haiti is fighting poverty by killing cash
on 20 tiny strokes of genius: Mercy Corps puts social innovations on display
on Reinterpreting the Brain Drain