From an Instagram advertisement to a community: Ethiopia’s first female skater, Sosina Challa, draws her inspiration from her teenage years and the lack of female Ethiopian skaters.
“I used to get plastic bottles, smash them and put them under my feet to try and slide,” said the 24-year-old project manager.
“I asked the boy to let me try skateboarding, and he said okay. I tried basic things, I was falling and ripped my skirt. That day was the best day of my entire life,”.
Challa joined a local skate group, helped build the local skate park, and became one of the first females to skate in the city.
Skating for change
It’s a profoundly passionate project for Challa, an Addis Ababa-based founder of Ethiopian Girl Skaters. What started initially as a hobby became one of Ethiopia’s first female-only skateboarding projects.
“It’s not really appreciable for the girls to skate. The skate park was crowded with boys. There was nowhere for the girls to skate,” she says.
Challa started the group two and half years ago by announcing ” Free skateboarding lessons for girls” on an Instagram post.
” It’s not like the girls don’t want to skate, the society and community we live in is very pushy. Most parents weren’t willing to let their daughters go out and skate,”.
Despite her concerns about the local community, several girls turned up at the skate park for their first skateboarding lesson with Challa.
“At the official opening, the girls were so motivated to learn more and try skateboarding,”.
Skating through the obstacles
Challa was always aware of the obstacles of being a female skater and has often been ridiculed with questions, “Aren’t you a girl? Aren’t you a woman? Aren’t you supposed to be helping your mother at home?”.
One of the main concerns for the parents was their daughter’s skating around boys, which Challa resolved by reserving Addis Skate Park on Saturday mornings for females only.
“I always get the parent’s permission, prepare the paperwork and take the responsibility and reassure the parents by letting them know when their daughter has arrived at the park,” Challa explains.
Once the girls get home, they send a message to Ethiopian Girl Skaters to tell them they have arrived safely.
“There’s girls from all kinds of backgrounds, some who work or help their parents at home. As girls, they all have setbacks,” says Challa.
UN Women data projections show a higher female unemployment rate in Ethiopia and a female literacy rate of 51.8% compared to males at 44.4%.
There has been some progress made in the country; as of 2021, 38.8% of seats in parliament were held by women.
Challa devotes much of her energy to providing Ethiopian Girl Skaters more opportunities, but there is a lack of funding and donations. “But we are still working on it,” she says.
The next generation
The Ethiopian Girl Skaters welcome girls from diverse backgrounds and provide more than just skating lessons.
“It’s not just a community but a big family,” says Challa.
The group often goes for lunch together after the lesson “we sit down together and talk about everything. Everyone has something to say,” explains Challa.
“We have girls with different talents and potential. We want to help them use what they have to change their lives,”.
Challa hopes to see the girls compete in the Olympics, become leaders and empower other women.
“it’s a very different sport, but it’s something that can connect you together,” she says.
“The bigger dream is to see the girls achieve in olympics, building skateparks internationally, be a leader and show we women are powerful”.
