Yann Gross is a young up-and-coming Swiss photographer. In a recent trip to Uganda he shot a short film.
This is the story of some youngsters who were influenced by a game they saw on TV and decided to construct themselves the only skatepark of East Africa in their neighborhood, since there wasn’t any concrete around. With no assistance from government or large NGO’s, kids from Uganda took significant steps to overcome boredom and poverty throught skateboarding.
Built from the bottom up, the grassroots construction of the first skatepark engender a sense of pride and empowerment in the community of Kitintale. By learning how to skate, the kids developped a sense of belonging to a community and realized a dream. Skateboarding keeps the youth busy and combats the developement of negative habits.
