Boarders Without Borders

Boarders Without Borders Benefit Show January 10th at Element

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:19:17 +0000

Boarders Without Borders is proud to announce it’s first benefit show featuring SonReal, CFC, Raoul Duke and Ganas on January 10th at 9pm. The show will be at Element Night Club, 919 Douglas Street. Tickets, $8 in advance and $10 at the door, are available at the Strathcona Hotel, Lyle’s Place, Hernandez and Higher Ground.

All proceeds from the event will go towards Boarders Without Borders first project–building a skateboard ramp and hosting an instructional camp for marginalized children in Pradera, Colombia. Boarders Without Borders is a non-profit society that is committed to spreading the joy of skateboarding and motivating youth by providing positive avenues of self expression.

The show will feature CFC, Boarders Without Borders founder, Stevie Garman. As well as local hip hoppers Raoul Duke, SonReal from Vancouver, and Ganas from Colombia.

New BWB Website

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:39:00 +0000

Check out our sweet new website! Special thanks to Owen for all his work on this! Let us know what you think!

Pilot Project Launched

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:58:52 +0000

In the Spring of 2010, Boarders without Borders will be building a 4′ high, 25′ wide concrete half pipe in Pradera, Colombia. BWB will also be hosting an instructional skate camp for 20 of the local youth and donating skateboarding equipment to each of the kids. The little town of Pradera was chosen because of BWB Director Steve Foord’s close ties to the community and because of the towns dire need for a youth oriented positive experience. Pradera is a small town of about 500 people that lies 16 km from San Augustin, Columbia’s archaeological capital. Its residents survive primarily on subsistence living, their main crops being sugar cane, coffee and lulu cultivations. The town is home to a septic field, has neither a garbage nor a recycling facility, and there is only one school. Alcoholism, drug use, violence, and poverty are rampant. Opportunity is limited, and the children have little or no avenues for positive self expression. As a film maker, Andrew Marchand Boddy and a small film crew have committed to documenting this Pilot Project both as a documentary film and as a first hand evaluation method of the project.

BWB isn’t simply building a ramp and teaching kids how to skate. We are helping to build the capacity of the youth in Pradera, Colombia. We are empowering them with the self esteem, self expression, and determination that comes with the joy of skateboarding.

Sharing the joys of skateboarding with underdeveloped communities around the world.

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:27:07 +0000

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.