THE FIRST ALL FEMALE SKATEBOARDING GROUP IN ETHIOPIA
Numerous girls congregate to skateboard at the Addis Skate Park in Ethiopia's capital city every Saturday morning. That wasn't always the case, particularly given how frequently skateboarding has been linked to guys. However, the park's demographics gradually started to change after 27-year-old Sosina Challa created Ethiopian Girl Skaters (EGS). EGS, one of the first female-only skateboarding groups in the nation, challenges misconceptions about skateboarding while providing its members with a strong feeling of camaraderie.
In a 2022 interview with Vogue, Challa remarked, "I had no idea how [EGS] would go, how people would see it, if people would think it acceptable." "You should be supporting your mother since you're a woman," people would tell me.
Since she was one of the few girls who would visit the Addis Skate Park, Challa found it difficult to feel comfortable there prior to starting EGS. After a while, the uneasiness led her to collaborate with Ethiopia Skate, a small nonprofit organisation that also supports skateboarders nationwide, to create an exclusive all-female club.
Even though only a few dozen women and girls participated in the EGS's inaugural session a few years ago, they were nevertheless interested in learning how to balance on a board and put on protective pads. According to Challa, "they wanted to overcome their fear and find out what it felt like."
In addition to skateboarding, EGS offers one-on-one learning and counselling sessions, and it currently has over 65 registered members. EGS's environment is unmistakably one of empowerment, inspiring its participants to consider skating as a means of self-expression as well as a sport or pastime. In an article on the group, Hiwot Hassen said, "When I skate, I dream large and at the same time, I feel like I have realised my dream."
Denkneh Seble went on, "I think skateboarding altered my life." Every individual has distinct qualities and a varied background with interesting pasts. I never want to miss a day spent with them.