Human trafficking and Human exploration concerns us all. There is no “I don’t know them so I don’t care” Ignoring this issue is ignoring our true Selves. This is what we’re doing regarding this issue:
After working for many years in the Action Sports Industry, changing the way women are portrayed in longboarding worldwide, getting hundred of thousand of people into the sport, and changing the general and cultural perception that these are “men sports”, we decided to step-up our game and are thrilled to announce our next endeavor.
Longboard Girls Crew is shifting into an active platform of humanitarian contribution. This means that we will be helping and partnering-up with different associations and NGOs around the world to help humans in need through our tool: longboarding.
The thing that changes our lives about skateboarding or longboarding is not the board itself. Is the feeling we get when we ride, is the challenges we face and how we overcome them that empowers us as a person, is the stoke we feel when we accomplish a new trick or dare to do something we didn’t think we would or could do, and how these feelings affect our Self-perception and Self-esteem. It’s also the social side of it. The bonds we make with the people that share this same passion we have and how all of these affect our lives.
Through all these years we’ve received thousand of emails of women and men around the world telling us how they started skating after seeing one of our photos or videos and how their lives have changed thanks to longboarding. How empowered they now feel. And even though not everyone became an avid rider, this feeling stuck in them and affected their lives in the most positive way. And THAT feeling is exactly what we want to bring to people who need it the most. Work on how we feel about our Selves and hopefully help see more of the magic inside us. We’ve been empowering people through longboarding all these years. Now we want to take it to the next level.
Us humans have basic external needs like food, shelter and education. And we have many others just as important: Love, Self-esteem, respect and support. We want to work on these aspects and if possible, bring them to people in need through our tool that as you know is longboarding.
We’re over the moon to announce our first partnership with Cambodian Associations Together1Heart & The Solyna Foundation that work to end sex slavery and along with Activist and Survivor Somaly Mam have rescued over 7000 girls and women in over 20 years.
Southeast-Asia holds the highest number of children sold in sexual slavery per capita. Together1Heart (T1H) work to care for and secure the rights of young women and girls who are victims or at risk of being victims of slavery and to successfully recover, educate, train and reintegrate them into mainstream society through financial independence in a sustainable and innovative manner.
A small group of riders will travel to their center in Cambodia, get to know the girls, help in every way we can and of course, teach them how to skate. We will go fully equipped, we will build ramps or asphalt streets and leave everything for them. Besides the riders we’re going with Elsa Sunita who’s a good friend, Yoga Instructor, Shaman and love advocate to make the strongest, most loving impact possible in the life of these girls and women. We’re taking an amazing group of film-makers and photographers to portray the experience and give exposure to a brutal reality that not everyone knows about. You can also start by donating to T1H HERE
Our mission is to bring some of the joy, Self-worth and empowerment that we get from skating to these girls and women that have gone through the unimaginable. To help them see the good and the magic inside us all and above all, to laugh, to enjoy and feel love.
This will be the first of many partnerships with different associations around the world in different fields. For us, there is no real happiness without caring and no other way to achieve it than by contribution. Since birth we’re taught and imposed social norms and commands but we’re never taught to be really happy, to connect with ourselves, to care about everyone and realize we’re all connected. There is no “I don’t care cause I don’t know them”. We’re all in this together and empathy and compassion are stronger than hate or jealousy when put into action. We want to bring that feeling of joy and empowerment to as many humans in need as possible.
LGC will also keep doing what we’ve been doing so far. Empowering girls and women to start skating, support female athletes around the world and creating opportunities for them, promoting our camaraderie values and contributing with stronger female role models to society. On a business level we will keep partnering-up with brands to create the raddest content and traveling giving talks and lectures about women, men, society and the need to shift. This new path we’re taking doesn’t mean we will stop everything else but complement each other.
We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for, so let’s do this!
WE CARE. We could change the world if we all did.
LGC Director Valeria Kechichian with survivor Ling Ya Chea. Read her inspiring story HERE
Join us, spread the word, donate or start your own project. We’re all in this together.
Together1heart
Solyna Foundation
Longboard Girls Crew
7skylife
