We would like to send out a huge thank you to Black Box Distribution for sending over a big shipment of brand new Zero and Mystery decks this week! Black Box has been providing all sorts of gear to Skateistan since the beginnings in 2007, and their continued support has been instrumental to our programming.
For over a year, Skateistan Cambodia has held mobile sessions in Phnom Penh, travelling around the city to skate with our partner NGOs or in public areas. We have been working towards opening a space of our own where we can include more children and provide a higher quality of programming for some time now. We have finally done it, and our new facility is officially open!
September 21st was the International Day of Peace. In celebration, some of Skateistan Cambodia’s older students honoured this important holiday by building our very own Stairway to Peace in the new skatepark.
We are proud to introduce two new members of the Skateistan team: Rath Chansopheakna (Pheakna) and Talia Kaufman!
Talia hails from Calgary, Canada, and started skateboarding as a teenager. She has a background in Development, Journalism, and Sexual Health Education, and has traveled and skated throughout Europe and South America. We are really excited to have her on the team as our new Communications Officer.
Pheakna is native to Phnom Penh and has been participating in Skateistan Cambodia’s programming as a student and monitor for some time now. Not only is he a great skater and enthusiastic instructor, he’s a pro at all things construction related and an incredible break-dancer thanks to his extensive experience with Pour un Sourire D'Enfant (PSE). Pheakna is also learning to DJ right now with our partner Turning Tables, and will be teaching other kids to DJ in the future.
We caught up with Talia and Pheakna at the guesthouse to ask them a few questions. Keep reading to hear about their impressions of Skateistan and to see some pictures of them in action!
This past weekend, Skateistan Cambodia and some of the students and monitors from our partner organization PSE (Pour un Sourire D’enfant) put on a demo at OneTV’s Big Bang event in Koh Pich.
