Some know it as the birthplace of Jesus, but to some children the city of Bethlehem is where they get to know the most thrilling of activities: skateboarding.

A dedicated group of volunteers from England, Serbia, America, Germany and Jordan were recruited by Skate-aid to build a skatepark for vulnerable children in Bethlehem. The project sought to bring the diverse community of Christian and Muslim Bethlehemites together through skating. With only 14% of high school students graduating with diplomas, skating offers teenagers an accessible way to learn a skill while building relationships with others.

The SOS Children’s Village in Bethlehem was an ideal location for the project as it supports the city’s most vulnerable children. As part of a wider network that works in 130 countries, the organisation helps families to care for their children and looks after those who have been orphaned or abandoned. It has been in Bethlehem since 1966, while the city was still under Jordanian control, a year before the city was captured by Israel in the 1967 six-day war.

Given that history, Bethlehem is a city fraught with challenges. Its acquaintance with war and occupation is long and tortuous. “These kids really have a hard time and it is frustrating for them to see the big wall between Palestine and Israel the whole time,” says Torben Oberhellmann, chief executive of Skate-aid, which runs skating projects in conflict zones. “They know that they have nearly no chance to leave the Palestine area. You can really feel how much energy the kids have but not many options to let it out. The skatepark helps them have fun, forget their problems, make friends and be a child in a hard world.”

Oberhellman, an avid skater himself, hopes that children of Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities will be one day able to enjoy the skatepark together, but he doesn’t see that happening any time soon. “It would be great to invite some youth from both sides of the wall but I don’t think that can happen now,” he says. “I asked the locals and they told me that nearly everybody knows somebody who was killed or injured in this conflict between Israel and Palestine, which makes the idea of parents allowing their children to forge friendships among each other so complicated.”

“But young people don’t care. If they love skateboarding they will understand each other and maybe it is a small step for peace in this region.”

“The park should also be opened for the community outside of the SOS-Village – that will happen step by step,” says Rania Al-Khatib, who volunteered as project manager and secured roughly half of the skatepark project’s funding. “The idea is to have an impact on the city and even the whole Palestinian region.”

Despite its success in giving children a recreational space, the project has not been without challenges. Patrick Ritchey, the project’s construction manager, had begun building the skatepark and giving the children skating lessons when, after a trip to Jordan, he was denied entry and deported back home to the US. He was never let back in.

“There were so many elements of the project that were extremely stressful,” says Ritchey. “Our expectations about finding skilled labourers and training the older SOS youth were hindered by a huge language barrier and changes in the scope of the project, which rendered our original blueprints obsolete. Violence in Jerusalem had helicopters and warplanes circling above us almost every day.”

Ritchey saw how all the problems were worth it when he saw photographs of the finished park. “I hope the kids enjoy the park and programme and benefit from skateboarding as I have,” he says.

After months of working on building the skatepark, the team brought in AptArt, a group of artists who work with refugees and vulnerable communities in conflict areas. AptArt enlisted the help of the children to paint the new play area and ran workshops on art therapy.

“We splashed some colour around and worked with the little guys to personalise and individualise the park,” says AptArt’s founder Samantha Robison. “By putting down their names and images of things that represent them, it becomes theirs.”

The children from SOS Children’s Village, who often complain of boredom, have found a new way to pass the hours. “Painting the skatepark made me feel part of something,” says 13-year-old Ibrahim, originally from Hebron on the West Bank. “I want to skateboard every day because it feels like flying.”

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