Facing ongoing conflict and bleak prospects, children in the Afghan capital of Kabul are now trying to take their future into their own hands, by skateboarding.
‘Skate-istan’ is a charity project that teaches children aged 5 to 17 to skateboard along with other educational programs. It is the country’s first co-ed skateboarding school, with a team of local and international volunteers helping to empower Afghan girls and boys.
From Kabul, our correspondent Natalie Carney filed this report.

More details:

• Skateistan is not your conventional school. Nor is skateboarding a sport widely practiced in Afghanistan, let alone by girls, yet over 40% of the students are female.
• The program, which works with 800 students across the country, also promotes teamwork amongst those from different ethnicities, an issue that has plagued and divided Afghan culture for decades.