article_snippet.sent: In Afghanistan, many girls are forbidden from riding bicycles - many girls are, however, allowed to ride skateboards.
article_snippet.sent: So when Australian skateboarder Oliver Percovich created Skateistan, a non-profit organization that aims to connect youth in Afghanistan with education through skateboarding, it shouldn't have been a surprise that 40 per cent of the program's students would be girls.
article_snippet.sent: Finding time for fun: Most girls are not allowed to ride bikes in Afghanistan, but skateboarding isn't against the rules .
article_snippet.sent: According to Feature Shoot, when Australian skateboarder Oliver Percovich first brought the program to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2007, many of the locals had never even heard of skateboarding.
article_snippet.sent: In fact, Jessica Fulford-Dobson  said Jessica Fulford-Dobson  believes the reason skateboarding has been received so differently in Afghanistan than in other countries is precisely because skateboarding was new to the region. '
article_snippet.sent: When skateboarding arrived in Afghanistan, it didn't have any preconceived images for other countries.
article_snippet.sent: other countries didn't know what it was,' Jessica Fulford-Dobson  said, while adding that it was only accepted after it became clear that it was just 'a toy to have fun with'.
article_snippet.sent: I met so many impressive women and girls in Afghanistan: a teacher as tough and determined as any man; young Afghans in so many impressive women and girls in Afghanistan: a teacher as tough and determined as any man early twenties who were volunteering at an orphanage and were passionate about being seen as strong and willing to fight for so many impressive women and girls in Afghanistan: a teacher as tough and determined as any man, rather than as victims of circumstance; and girls who were being educated to be leaders in so many impressive women and girls in Afghanistan: a teacher as tough and determined as any man communities and who were already thinking carefully about so many impressive women and girls in Afghanistan: a teacher as tough and determined as any man own and so many impressive women and girls in Afghanistan: a teacher as tough and determined as any man country’s future,'  Jessica Fulford-Dobson  said.
article_snippet.sent: That education is a top priority for Skateistan, as many children in Kabul from low-income families are forced to drop out of school to earn money.
article_snippet.sent: Besides being taught to skateboard, the program's participants are also invited to join a free back-to-school program to help the program's participants get back on track with the program's participants education.
highlights_snippet.sent: Australian Oliver Percovich created Skateistan, an NGO, to promote education through skateboarding; participants can also join a free back-to-school program .