About

Boarders Without Borders is committed to spreading the joy of skateboarding and motivating youth by providing positive avenues of self expression. BWB aims to provide skateboards, ramps, and skate lessons to some of the most marginalized children in the world.

We are experienced and devoted skateboarders, and we want to help spread our passion and love for the sport and art form with these kids. As a part of this global community we have had the chance to come into our own in a way that would not have been possible without skateboarding in our lives. We want to provide kids that have little opportunity with a positive creative outlet and positive role models that they would not otherwise have had the chance to experience.

History

Since 2001, with little more than their backpacks and skateboards, Steve Foord, Stevie Garman, and Andrew Marchand-Boddy have all spent a considerable amount of time travelling throughout the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and South East Asia. They skated every chance they got, and in some of the villages they visited literally every child would flock around to watch. Some of the kids had never even seen a skateboard before, yet they were always very eager to learn. The three of them saw firsthand the joys that skateboarding brought to children who lived in some of the worst circumstances imaginable. They saw the potential these kids had and it occurred to them that it would not take much to provide a few skateboards to these children and others like them. Skateboarding is a sport and an art form that is essentially accessible to anyone with a board and access to a smooth surface. Thus Boarders without Borders was born.

Community Involvement

Boarders without Borders recognizes the importance of community involvement in our project. Without the input from the community and its leaders, none of our projects would be possible. Nothing we do goes through without the complete backing from the community. As BWB and the community of Pradera work together to build a sustainable skateboard ramp, locals will be employed to aid in the construction and will be continuously consulted throughout the process.

Upon completion of the ramp Boarders without Borders will host a skateboard camp for 20 marginalized kids in the community—10 boys and 10 girls. While the camp’s primary purpose is to teach the children how to skateboard, the exposure to positive role models is invaluable. In addition to the skate lessons, each day the camp is run there will be a one hour workshop on an issue important to the community, such as basic English, carpentry skills or environmentalism. The camp will also provide all involved with clean drinking water, snacks, and one healthy meal a day.

Bios

Steven David Foord was born and raised in Victoria, BC. After graduating high school in 2003 he quickly hit the road to Latin America. There he travelled with his skate and spread his love of the sport with the people he met. He quickly learned the beauty it instilled in the people around him. Regardless of the gravity of their living conditions, their smiles secure his dreams of sharing this love on a larger scale. The best payment he can receive is to watch these kids skate and have fun when they normally would not.

Stevie Garman is a skateboarder and a musician. In 2004 he travelled from Colombia to Mexico with his skate and saw how well people reacted to skateboarding around the world. Since then he has gone back to Colombia 3 times, always with his skate and always playing music. In 2009 he put on skateboarding workshops for youth in the town of Popayan, Colombia and also headlined the ‘4th International Music Festival Against Imperialism and War’ in the city of Cali.

Andrew Marchand-Boddy is from Victoria and is currently living in Montreal. He is a passionate skateboarder, filmmaker, and humanitarian. He has been skateboarding for 14 years, is an ambitious world traveler and has skated in 13 different countries. In almost every city and town in which he has travelled, he has experienced overwhelming interest in his skateboard, especially from the children. His one regret while travelling was that he could only ever bring the one board with him.

Colleen Sullivan has a degree in Political Science from the University of Calgary and Oxford Brookes University. She has a long standing passion for international social justice and has done development field work and various forms of activism all over the world.