#Skateistan10: Of the past: Ambassador Kåre R. Aas, Ambassador of Norway to the U.S. (Major Donor)
As Skateistan celebrates 10 years, founder Oliver Percovich caught up with some of the most influential individuals that helped Skateistan to grow from its early beginnings in Kabul in 2008, into an award-winning international organization. When Oliver first began to establish Skateistan, he was introduced to Kåre R. Aas, Norway’s Ambassador to Afghanistan at the time. A true believer in Skateistan’s mission, Kåre became an important partner to Skateistan, supporting not only financially through grants but on a personal level as an advisor and friend to Oliver.
Oliver Percovich: It was Ayesha that originally introduced you to Skateistan. I had randomly met her at a restaurant in Kabul and she told me that she was a cleaner at ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force), she didn’t tell me that she worked at the Embassy, so I was very surprised when she organized a meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador! Why did you take that meeting with me and what can you remember from it?
Kåre R. Aas: When I went to Afghanistan, it was important to me to try to make a difference in the country. I had some knowledge about Afghanistan when I arrived because Norway had been involved in Afghanistan for many years, even before the Taliban, during the Soviet occupation. When I came to Afghanistan I really had the intention of reaching out to the Afghan society to try to help them build a stable country. For that to happen, it was important for me to engage with the civil society and with the government, as well as to explore new avenues where Norway could engage. I had an open mind to engage with the Afghans and the international community, and when that meeting with you came up, it was my attitude to say of course. And I remember the meeting well, you touched my feelings as you were working on how to include girls into education and how to motivate them and get their parents’ acceptance for that to happen. I really understood immediately that this was something I wanted Norway to be associated with and I wanted the Embassy to be a part of.
OP: It was so exciting because the Norwegian Embassy was the second institutional donor after Canada and you became our largest donor at the time with a grant. You also had the idea to host a dinner in Kabul to attract new donors to Skateistan and some of those donors ended up staying with Skateistan for years and donating millions of dollars — so thank you very much for that. You were motivated to do more for Skateistan than just another project that you were supporting, can you explain why?
KA: Firstly, it was very important to me to explain with you to other countries how Skateistan worked and to try to have them support the project. I’m so happy that that happened. But what touched me was to see young girls and small children engaging with Skateistan through skateboarding and at the same time having the obligation to go to school, which I thought was a fascinating idea. Also, being a donor country and an Ambassador to Afghanistan, it was important for me to see what was happening on a daily basis and every time I visited Skateistan, I felt there was really important progress towards what you wanted to achieve.
OP: Did you have a personal memory or story that stands out in the last 10 years of Skateistan?
KA: I have many, but I would say two of them were when we opened the Skate School in Kabul and its opening ceremony — that was a huge achievement in Skateistan’s vision. Seeing the children skating and at the same time having the possibility to visit them in class with the teachers was great. I also remember with great satisfaction when we met with the Afghan Olympic Committee and the President wanted to be associated with Skateistan. With the attitude and approach that we took towards the Afghan government, you were able to achieve that . All in all, I would say that you are an entrepreneur in what you are doing and for me it has been important to support your visions and your ambitions.
OP: It’s been so wonderful to have such strong backing from somebody so experienced as yourself. Did your involvement at Skateistan influence your perspective or your work with grassroots non-profits?
KA: When I was the Ambassador to Afghanistan, Norway had a development aid program bi-laterally with Afghanistan. Some of that aid was channeled through the UN, others with the Afghan government, and then we had projects at the Embassy directly with organizations like Skateistan. To me, it is important to see the results of the money that Norway is spending and I think that with a non-profit like yours, we really saw the effects and the positive consequences of the money we were spending immediately. That fascinated me because I could see from when I had our first meeting to when we opened that facility in Kabul, something was actually happening. And that’s hugely satisfying for a donor country to see. Non-profit organizations have their limits, but in this case I really saw what we were doing. At the same time, we were doing bilateral work with the Afghan government and I think that during my two and a half years in Afghanistan we built one hundred schools, that was another time when you could see that Norway, with our partners like you and the Afghan government, really made a difference. It’s also important that the Norwegian public can see that results are happening on the ground and that there are benefits to the local population and to the children.
OP: Absolutely. We’ve talked a lot about what has happened over the last 10 years and the early involvement of the Norwegian Embassy in Afghanistan. What would you like to see Skateistan achieve over the next 10 years?
KA: First of all, I would say that it’s important to keep up the good work. It’s very good that you have established Skateistan in other countries like South Africa and Cambodia, as I think it has a huge potential for fragile states. You could be looking towards Syria, Iraq and, when the situation has improved, perhaps also in Yemen and some African countries like Somalia. The needs are there and they need to be filled. Of course, that also depends on getting sufficient funding and I also think that the idea of combining public and private funding is something worth exploring even further. I know that you have started on that avenue, and I think that you should continue to do that. Skateistan is such a valuable and important concept, you should really also look into how you can reach out to a broader public to what you do today — broaden your scope and strengthen your organization. And also continue to engage with governments, be that in Europe, Asia or other places. You have a great story to tell and an important project to further strengthen.
OP: Thank you so much for your wonderful input into this and all of those ideas. We are interested in getting to the hardest-to-work places, I think that is really our forte — we were able to put results on the ground in Kabul when it was quite hard for others to do so. We definitely want to explore that angle and stay in the public eye as it’ll be important for our further success. Thank you so much for your support over the last 10 years. I was really touched by how much personal attention you have given the organization and for our friendship, and I look forward to seeing you soon!
Thanks to the support of individuals, such as Kåre, we have been empowering children through skateboarding and education for 10 years now. Celebrate and follow this milestone with us on the blog, and get ready for our new campaign to support 10 more years of Skateistan which launches May 10th.
