p- Zyanya Jackson
Refurb Skate is a small non-profit organization established in January of 2017 in New Zealand. Prior to this we had immersed ourselves in a 6 week skate program, facilitated by local skater and business owner Jens Groot. It was Jens that really built the foundation for our girls skate workshops we ran in Queenstown over that first summer. We heard about Make Life Skate Life, a non-profit who builds skateparks in developing countries, who had just finished a project in Nepal. After a few beers and a lot of hyped chats, we created Refurb Skate and began planning our first trip to teach girls workshops in the newly built park in Pokhara, Nepal.
p- Troy Tanner
We consist of four core members; Zyanya Jackson, Te Rina Adams, Cayley Alger, and Caitlin Hodgen. While working around full-time jobs, we all managed to put together fundraising events and a Go Fund Me page to raise $5,000 nod. We achieved this with so much support from the local Queenstown community, friends, and family abroad who supported the cause. One fundraising initiative that was incredibly successful was hand painting old skate decks, which we then sold as REFURBished art pieces. The decks were painted by ourselves and local artists who donated their work. The money we raised primarily gave us the ability to buy enough new set-ups from local skate shops and allowed us to run our workshops (both in Pokhara and Kathmandu) with the time and equipment we needed. We were then able to leave these set-ups for the girls to continue rolling after we had left.
p- Saoirse Mc
We’d also like to mention a crucial part of Refurb Skate, and that is the guys who have gotten involved, in particular Duncan Philip and Zac Douglas. These two worked with us in Queenstown and came over to Nepal with us to run the girls workshops. Their skill level and experience inspired both us and the youth at the parks to learn new tricks and keep progressing. More importantly the example they set to other young boys in the park really helped. It wasn’t long before we saw them helping the girls out and sharing the boards. Girls and guys skating together, just skating.
p- Zyanya Jackson
One experience that sticks out for us was meeting two local girls from Pokhara who attended all of our workshops. Their progression was insane. By the end of the three weeks they were dropping in and carving around the park. What stands out most for us was then being invited into their family home and made the most delicious plate of Dahl That (a local dish consisting of rice and curry) which we all enthusiastically scooped up with our hands. This delicious experience was so humbling, and we felt a genuine connection with these girls and their culture, and it all started with skating.
p- Zyanya Jackson
‘Refurb Fridays’ is a girls skate night, which we run once a week. It’s a casual set up that has far from casual effects. Girls of all ages get together each week at different locations to feed off each other’s energy, learn, and progress. We introduce them to bowls, mini-ramps, and even to the streets. In addition to this we often have male counterparts come along who are stoked on the progression. We find this super important for an inclusive and realistic environment, which welcomes anyone from any background. We also support women in skateboarding on an international level by working with Make Life Skate Life to establish workshops, and after the builds to introduce the local girls into the skate scene. It is often hard due to social or cultural barriers, but the reward is far greater. The empowerment and freedom we see the girls get from learning to skate is unparalleled.
p- Troy Tanner
For the immediate future we are going to continue to run girls nights every Friday in our local community of Queenstown. We are also going to continue to coordinate with Make Life Skate Life on their upcoming builds, getting involved in the building process then staying on after to run girls workshops. We want to establish a solid foundation of girl skaters in the community which we hope will continue to to grow. The next build in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq will be a challenge, but one we are super keen to dive into. To continue making these trips consistent, we are hoping to get a sponsor on board. Ultimately, we just want to get as many girls from many different backgrounds into skateparks, both in our community and worldwide. Skateboarding has given us so many incredible opportunities, and we would love to share them with the world.
p- Saoirse Mc
