Skateboarding is breaking barriers in Ethiopia, with trailblazers like Sosina Challa leading the sport. The founder of Ethiopian Girl Skaters is inspiring young women to embrace the sport despite cultural pushback. Now Ethiopian girls have a platform to build their confidence and challenge gender norms.
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00:00Seen these girls before? On your socials or perhaps even on the streets of Addis?
00:05They are the Ethiopian Girl Skaters.
00:08Dressed in their traditional Yebehal kemis,
00:11these girls are on a mission to change the image of the male-dominated sport.
00:16Since we're Habesha, we have a lot of cultures, norms and everything.
00:20It's not that much inviting regarding to this kind of risky sport.
00:26At 26, Sosina Chala is one of the pioneers of female skating in Ethiopia.
00:31She's been on the board for 9 years and she remembers a time when she was the only girl out there.
00:39Back then, me and my cousins, we used to smash a water bottle,
00:43and I'm trying to stand on it and we push each other and we used to do that.
00:48So, that day I saw a skateboard, the boys were skating and it was fun.
00:55In 2019, Sosina founded the Ethiopian Girl Skaters.
00:59But that was the easy part. Convincing other girls to join her was a bigger task.
01:04When I ask the girls, like whenever I ask,
01:07you want to try this or blah blah, they're kind of willing.
01:10But whenever the boys are trying to approach them with the skateboard, they're kind of not okay.
01:15So I was like, maybe if I start teaching one of the girls, they'd be so happy.
01:19So whenever I go there, I give them my skateboard and I start bringing additional skateboards with me.
01:24Gradually, a small group of like-minded girls rallied around her.
01:28And they started meeting up once a week.
01:30I get them on social media. Sometimes I watch them there.
01:36And I was interested to skate.
01:41One day I saw boys skating around and I want to join them and ask them about skating.
01:48And they told me there is a session for girls only on Saturday.
01:55With more than 20 active members and 45,000 followers on Instagram,
01:59Ethiopian Girl Skaters have made a name for themselves.
02:02And while the spotlight has boosted their confidence,
02:05the sport itself has also taught them a few life lessons.
02:09To learn skating, you have to fail so many times and you have to not give up on skating.
02:17So it's taught me patience, confidence.
02:22For Sosina, skating has become more than just her passion.
02:26It's become a mission to build a community and create opportunities,
02:30specifically for the women and girls.
02:32And while society and their families might have been skeptical at first,
02:36Sosina believes that it just needs a few trailblazers like her to lead the way.
02:42We are like a daughter of very rebellious ancestors.
02:50So apparently we should have to be a little bit rebellious to do something creative,
02:59to do something for others.
03:01So you know what? Our parents are going to say something.
03:06Everybody is going to say something until they are successful.
03:10So we should do it anyways.
03:12And while Ethiopian Girl Skaters are new on the scene,
03:16they are definitely ones to watch out for.