In This Addis Ababa Skatepark, Weekends Belong to the Girls

09.12.2024 - 18:21 / cntraveler.com

Urban Africa is a love letter to the bustling African metropolises south of the great desert—Dakar, Kigali, Lagos, Addis Ababa, and Johannesburg, to name a few—that are dynamic, diverse, and more traveler-ready than ever. Find more inspiration here.

Makdelena Desta, 17, flings out her arms like a ballet dancer as she skates around Addis Skatepark. Wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and a brand-new pair of Converse sneakers, curled hair flying behind her, she glides across the skatepark, her confident, carefree stance drawing the attention of her friends. As she reaches the ramp close to the park’s entrance, her face shifts to an expression of concentration before taking on one of three squat volcano-like structures at the center of the space. She raises her hands in triumph.

Desta is a member of Addis Girl Skateboarding (AGS), a new and relatively small collective of women skaters based in Addis Ababa. They meet every weekend, primarily at Addis Skatepark, where they have a standing reservation each week to skate together. It’s the day before Meskel, the Ethiopian and Eritrean religious holiday, so the park is relatively empty. The skaters and I take cover in the shade of two giant eucalyptus trees as an unseasonably warm sun hits the concrete. The group of girls, all between the ages of 15 and 22, are about to return to school after summer break so they’re taking advantage of their last week of freedom, skating all morning and taking breaks only to eat popsicles to beat the heat—and yell out words of encouragement to those attempting new tricks. “Jegna! Gobez!” they shout to a 16 year old in a hijab named Hanan as she masters a kickflip around the bowl that she’d been attempting for 15 minutes.

This weekly session is no ordinary gathering of friends; nor is it your average hobby club. In a city where sports—not to mention, streets—are largely male-dominated spaces, these young women aren't just developing a belief in their abilities when they nail that perfect landing, they're also challenging gender stereotypes.

Ethiopian Girl Skaters, one of the first girls-only skateboarding groups in the country, serves as a powerful symbol for women and girls.

Addis Ababa is ever-changing, thanks to a slew of development projects designed to modernize the city's infrastructure.

Addis Skatepark is one of only two skateparks in the city. A cobblestone road stretching from Bisrate Gebriel church and past Laphto Mall, a popular retail and entertainment hub, leads to the skatepark, which is located within a youth community center. The main street, also named Bisrate Gebriel, is lined with fancy malls; just beyond lie the wealthier neighborhoods of Addis Ababa. In most areas of the city, communities aren’t typically segregated