Addis Abeba
Ethiopia
What did we do in Addis Abeba?
For the first time in our existence we decided to go on a mission to a destination, where skateboarding and skate-related activities already have a long history. The capital city of Ethiopia has two standing skateparks where the localy established organization Ethiopia Skate runs their programs. Based on a recommendation from our friends from Forever Playground Magazine we decided to contact Israel Dejene, the local hero who runs a suburban based social project called Megabi House, where all street kids are welcome. He is passionate about skateboarding and he even linked up with Tony Hawk, Nyjah Huston and the gang and they went down there back in 2015 to build him a miniramp right on the land of Megabi House. In December 2023 we went down to Addis to continue on the job sparked by Tony and we worked out the space into a full skatepark. It took us two weeks of work day and night in a crew of six people. We left a concrete jungle with obstacles for the most skilled riders but also for the very beginners. We decorated the space with a mozaic, couple plants and two palmtrees. Having left more than twenty complete boards, shoes and couple of concrete tools, we believe that this project will continue to thrive in the years to come!
SEE MORE OF HIS WORK HERE!
"Megabi House is a home for children and youth who literally have no place to sleep. In our community there are many street kids who have no home or family to go home to at the end of the day"
Results
Public skatepark
The skatepark is open to anybody, just go ahead and ask around, or shoot us a message on whatsapp and we will put you together with the local crew.The park is usually serving as a kids playground, but at certain hours it is open for public sessions. Go ahead and session it if you’re in the town.
Community space
Megabi house is a community space ran by Israel Dejene and his sisters. Many families live together in a shared housing, creating a sustainable form of existence. With countles children running around the vast area is lacking a calm space where children can feel safe and can focus on themselves. Even better they can spend their time being active in the skatepark.
Company support
This was the first project ever to be completely put together by the Bonidee_Skateparks guys. In a crew of 7 people together with a Slovakian photographer Kubo Križo, this project was completed in 14 days of non stop work followed by a couple days of non stop fun.
Why did we go to Addis
The Czech Republic has a long-lasting partnership with Ethiopia thus we’ve managed to secure a funding for this project. With the potential feasible budget, we looked out for a partner and once we got to know Israel Dejene and his Megabi organization we knew right away that this is a project that we should invest our time into.
This is the result of our work!
Megabi skatepark
The skatepark is located at the suburban area of the city, right under the Entoto forest surrounding Addis Abeba. We continued on a work once started by California Skateparks. What was once only a miniramp is now a full skatepark with both challenging and beginners elements. This project was funded from the Czech-UNDP partnership and our peers from the Czech skateboarding community.
Stories
Some cool moments
Here are a few pictures from Ethiopia and the construction process. Should you be interested in having one printed on your wall, just let us know!
