Make Life Skate Life is a non-profit organisation and community outreach programme that designs and builds community skateparks around the globe.
The organisation works in rural areas where skateboarding has become popular among the youth who lack safe and adequate training facilities. Make Life Skate Life has successfully built skateparks in India, Bolivia, Jordan and Myanmar.
Their latest skatepark project is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where a group of professional skatepark builders from across the globe will gather for three weeks in April to build a park for local skateboarders.
Working closely with Ethiopia Skate, a local non-profit outreach programme that empowers the youth through skateboarding, Make Life Skate Life will act as the mediator between local authorities and the programme.
Jon Chaconas, project leader and campaign manager says this is an exciting project as authorities have been accommodating and have sponsored land and a shipping container for them to use.
According to Stuart Walker, a skatepark builder and designer from South Africa, the park will have a more flowing design, avoiding large walls and ramps. It will keep costs down and lend an organic feel to the park. Walker has been involved in many community-based skateparks locally and abroad.
Make Life Skate Life not only builds these skateparks but also provides local skateboarders with the tools, materials, knowledge and the skill to maintain the park and start their own projects. The projects are funded through IndieGoGo campaigns, and the current project has just reached the halfway mark.
