Sosina Challa lives in Ethiopia(埃塞俄比亚), in eastern Africa. When she was about 16, she and her friends saw a group of boys skateboarding(滑板运动) in a parking lot. “I used to watch skateboarding in the movies,” Challa said. “But I never got the chance to try.” That changed one day. “I just asked if I could try to skate,” she says. “It was fun!”
At the time, skateboarding was still something new in Ethiopia and it was mainly played by boys, just as it is today. But Challa was crazy about it. She wanted more girls to experience skateboarding, so in 2020, she teamed up with her friend Micky Asfaw to start a club called Ethiopian Girl Skaters (EGS). Since then, the club has provided free skateboarding lessons to more than 150 girls and young women. It brought more than just athletic benefits. “It’s not just about skateboarding,” she says. “We try to build a community.”
EGS lessons take place on Saturdays, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at Addis Skatepark. Each class has about 35 students. “You get skating lessons and friendship and family,” skater Kenan Menasse said. “That’s the best.”
“When I started skateboarding,” Challa says, “there were no girls actively taking part in the skate community because of the stereotype(刻板印象).” In traditional Ethiopian society, she explains, girls are expected to stay home and help their parents. “The sport is for everyone,” she tells parents who hesitate to let their daughters join the club.
“It’s not just what we give them,” Challa says about EGS and its members. “Everyone in the community helps each other. That’s how we try to build our sistership.”
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