Skateboarding can do wonderful things

In our long running series of posts labeled "Skateboarding can do wonderful things" we have a report from way down south:

Our South African friends proved that skateboarding can indeed do wonderful things when they offered skateboarding classes at a school for hearing impaired kids. 

Sharné of Girls Skate South Africa reports for sk8boarding4life:

Today Girls Skate had the opportunity to go to St Vincent school for the deaf. I gathered 22 kids from the ages of 9 to 12. 

I started off with a fun warm up for everyone, Steph assisted a young girl in a wheel chair to make her feel like she was part of the session. From the start the kids were very excited to learn, even at warm up they were already laughing. We then got everyone padded up in safety gear and helmets and started off with the basics.

Sophia stood next to me as I was explaining so she could communicate in sign language to the kids. Although there was a language barrier, a lot of the kids caught on really fast. I don’t think there was one kid that didn’t want to learn. I managed to get them on board and started on the basic kick push, which all of them got!

They were so amazed by doing the fundamentals, and we quickly moved onto the next step. 

One of the girls was even more eager to learn, she was in a wheelchair and sat on her skateboard, and I taught her how to use her hips and arms for skating and she didn’t stop smiling, it was amazing spending time with her, her smile made it feel like she had nothing holding her back from trying to skate.

After the session all the kids came to me and signed a “thank you” which I have yet to learn. 

I received a card with a skateboard on the cover and all of their names. It was a really special day for me and I hope that we will be going back to introduce skateboarding into schools that are often neglected like this. 

Everybody deserves a chance and I hope that I can help giving back just a little bit of joy!

Thank you Sharné!

The good people og HUGE where involved too and report: 

Today was another event in broadening our educational and skills development arm of HUGE. 

Sharne who has previously attended an Alex Water Warriors event invited me to join her at St. Vincent school for the deaf. 

We coached 22 children, who were all hearing impaired in varying degrees, the basics of skate boarding. Every child had a skate board, helmet and protective gear. It was pretty amazing getting their attention with hand gestures, shaking our hands in the air with joy when they did well and pointing at the instructor. It felt like an impromptu ballet performance for me, but they followed really well. 

One little girl had no use of her legs so she sat on the board. She laughed with glee as I helped in pulling her around. 

😊The sweetest moment was when a boy signed to me “ everyday” He was able to articulate verbally as well and he wanted me to come every day. 🤗❤️💕 🛹 🤟✨♻️ 

Sharne attended our “Clothes to Good” outing. Her passion and vision is that skateparks can aid in bringing joy and be used as a healthy outlet of energy for the youth in our communities.