WeSkate Mongu

WeSkate mongu is a youth-run non-profit organization aimed at inspiring hope, possibility and personal growth for our children in the community and Zambia at large. Founded by multi-youth award winner John Kalenga in 2017, officially registered in 2022, we try to help our youth from resulting to bad vices such as drug abuse and theft , WeSkate Mongu uses skateboarding as a tool to control youth delinquency. We have received the first ever skate park in the country built, where it runs free skateboarding and education lessons 7 days a week to an average of 300 to 700 children of the community both boys and girls below the age of 20 years old who visit the skate park everyday. 

We run psychosocial skill training, basic literacy and numeracy, and creative arts programs. Our skateboarding and arts-based education programs help to improve the mental wellbeing of our kid friends and we have seen resilience, self-efficacy, esteem and trust. We Skate Mongu combines sport with life skills and educational programming to help children aged 5-20. This helps to keep more children in education and is linked with learning lifelong values of friendship, teamwork and inclusion. By focusing particularly on empowering girls, children from low-income backgrounds and children with disabilities, we create leadership opportunities and promote equality. 

Our main aim is Good health and wellbeing, we run sporting programs which encourage healthy lifestyle and promote confidence.
Gender equality, 30% of students are girls which is the only set of females skateboarding in the whole country. We run girls-only sessions, employ female educators, and help communities see benefits of female participation. Reduced inequalities, we extend our programs to children with disabilities and encourage children from marginalized communities to participate. 

We measure our impact through daily attendance collection, we use a mix of quantitative and qualitative indicators over time, such as surveys, focus groups, and interviews that identify life skills and non-formal education changes including; trust, confidence, friendships made, attitudes towards school and education, and useful knowledge learnt in the classroom. Students and families assess the resources and safe space that WeSkate Mongu provides, and staff training feedback is key for developing the quality of programs. The project is funded through online crowd funding campaigns, fundraising events, and selling merchandise.