Build a skatepark in Dili, East Timor

Help us build a safe, quality skatepark for Dili’s growing skateboarding

community this October!

Skateboarding in Timor-Leste

As one of the world’s newest countries, Timor-Leste (East Timor) is emerging from a history of conflict and trauma. There’s no shortage of needs, including creative and healthy outlets to empower the next generation. This is where skateboarding can help.

Ba Futuru is a leading non-government organisation, working to protect children, reduce violence, empower women and inspire young learners. Recognising skateboarding’s potential to inspire and connect individuals, they facilitated a skatepark built by volunteers. The park has been much loved for decades, but owing to inexperienced design and degradation over time, it’s largely unskateable and often dangerous.

With the state of infrastructure in Timor-Leste generally poor, Dili’s growing skateboard community has no safe, purpose built space to run programs or skate together.

Timor Skate

Timor Skate is a group of Australia-based volunteers, who befriended Dili skaters in 2018. They’ve provided skate equipment (with thanks to supporters like Globe International, Modus Bearings, and countless individuals, and secured a grant from the Goodpush Alliance to employ a local skate program manager to run free lessons and activities. But the big picture has always been to build a tailored skatepark to help the skaters thrive.

Dili skatepark project

Before COVID-19, Timor Skate met with Dili locals to jointly design their dream park. You can check out the design here.

We’ve got an international team of professional skatepark builders committed to volunteering a month of their time to make this park a reality. Lead designer and builder, Wade Trevean (East by West), has designed and built over 100 skateparks across Australia, plus similar volunteer projects in Iraq, Nepal, Palestine, Libya, Mozambique, Morocco, and very recently, Laos – so we know the finished product will be amazing. We’re thrilled to have confirmed funding from some wonderful supporters – The Skateroom, Wonders Around the World, and Decks for Change – in addition to our local-level fundraising activities.

So far, around half of the skatepark budget has been raised – enough to commit to basic construction, but more is needed to deliver the best possible outcome for our Timorese friends. We’re heading over this October. Owing to the costs and challenges in travelling to Dili, this is a one-time chance to build the park. The crew of designers and builders can’t come back in stages. Every dollar raised will go towards building the best park possible, and after this Timor Skate will continue to focus on remotely supporting local skaters to make the best use of their new park.

How you can help

Donate now! And please share this with your friends!

Whether you’re a skater yourself, a friend of Timor-Leste, or simply someone who likes to see more good things happen in the world, any donation you can make, or can inspire others to make, will have a huge impact!