Oliver Percovich first skated in an empty pool at the age of six while growing up in Papua New Guinea. In 2007, he moved to Afghanistan from Australia when his then girlfriend took a job in Kabul. Looking to explore, he would skate the city, and street-working kids would follow him around and ask to try. In 2008, Oliver founded Skateistan, a grassroots 'Sport for Development' project on the streets of Kabul.

Today, Skateistan is an award-winning international organization with Skate Schools and programs running in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa. The organization is the first international development initiative to combine skateboarding with educational outcomes. Skateistan’s programs are for children aged 5 to 17 with a focus on girls, youth living with a disability, and children from low income backgrounds. Through their innovative programs, Outreach, Skate and Create, Back-to-School, Dropping In, and Youth Leadership, Skateistan aims to give youth the opportunity to become leaders for a better world.

The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation is very excited to invite Oliver to speak with students at this year’s Human Rights Film Festival in Zürich. He will be joining us for school screenings of the documentary film Minding the Gap, a coming-of-age saga of three skateboarding friends in their Rust Belt hometown hit hard by decades of recession. Post screenings, he will sit down for an open discussion with students. The school screenings will take place on Monday, December 9th & Tuesday, December 10th at Kosmos in Zürich.

Want to learn more about Skateistan? Check out their website and find out how they are helping to empower children through skateboarding and education.

Are you a teacher or student in Switzerland that is interested in human rights education? Do you want to attend a school screening? Register your class through Schule & Kultur. Student tickets are only CHF 10 and the registration deadline is November 14th!