Zainab Hussaini: The history-making former refugee helping others through skateboarding

Born a refugee in Islamic Republic of Iran, Zainab Hussaini knows what it feels like to have a lack of opportunities.

But she wouldn’t let her circumstances stand in the way of her participating in, and enjoying, sport. Through determination and perseverance, she went on to enjoy a remarkable career as a runner.

Through her struggles she became passionate about helping other women and refugees enjoy sport, which eventually led her to becoming the Afghanistan Country Manager for Skateistan.

The non-profit organisation empowers children through skateboarding and education in underprivileged communities around the world. Hussaini’s role is to help the next generation in Afghanistan to remain in school as the popularity of the sport continues to grow.

In recognition of International Day of Sport for Development & Peace, we take a closer look at how she is now working to increase opportunities for underserved individuals to also enjoy a more positive life through sport.

Despite being born as a refugee in Islamic Republic of Iran, Hussaini was able to find solace in sport as a member of her school basketball team.

But she was forced to quit as a teenager because the team didn’t have the legal documents required to be registered in a sports club.

She eventually returned to her homeland Afghanistan, but the situation didn’t improve. Her family didn’t have water or electricity and after taking up taekwondo, she was forced to quit again after police shut down the club for running girls’ sessions.

But Hussaini would not be denied the opportunity to enjoy a sporting outlet for herself. She  joined her high school basketball team, which afforded women more opportunities.

“While we didn’t have enough equipment or even a concrete ground to play on, we practised hard and we were then able to participate in provisional competitions. I had an interest in trying many different sports to find my talent, and now, I’m a marathon runner!” she continued.

In 2015, the young athlete became the first Afghan woman to run the Marathon of Afghanistan, and later, the first Afghan to complete an ultramarathon. She achieved this despite it being unsafe for her to train on the streets of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Helping others was always of equal importance to Hussaini, as enjoying sport herself.

She started working with Women for Women International in Afghanistan but once that contract had finished, she didn’t know what to do next. That’s when Skateistan came into her life.

“I was searching on job websites and I saw that Skateistan were in need of a Sports Coordinator. I applied and, with my sports background, I was successful. After two to three years, an organisation named Free to Run asked Skateistan to introduce some female candidates to take part in an ultramarathon competition.

“This was the start of a new journey. We trained and faced lots of challenges in finding a space to run; we didn’t have security and we couldn’t run on the streets like athletes from other countries. We had to run around our small home gardens. We tried to return to the streets to train, but it was too dangerous. We realised that Afghanistan is not yet ready to accept women practising sports in public, so our homes were the safest place for us.

“Eventually, we could finish the ultramarathon race along with other participants from many different countries, and Afghanistan went to the list of countries who completed an ultramarathon.”

In 2020, Skateistan decided to open a new school in Hussaini’s hometown of Bamyan, central Afghanistan, a city that suffered serious casualties during regime change. Over 300 children participated in the opening event.

Later that year Skateistan’s inspiring work was recognised with the World Winner award at the IOC Women and Sport Awards.

“Our aim is to empower local people and to create future leaders,” she told Skateism. 

“At each Skate and Create Class, students have the chance to nominate themselves to be a safety leader or a member of the student council.” 

The elected students are then given the opportunity to join the Youth Leadership programme and after six months of training, they can pass on their knowledge as skate or classroom educators.

Through sport and education, Hussaini is helping to improve the lives of many young people.

But she wants to continue to push those boundaries, and has an inspiring goal in mind.

“I really want to see that one day there are no out-of-school children in Afghanistan,” she continued to Olympics.com. 

“There are internally displaced children who have been forced to flee their provinces and can’t go to school because they are over the age of entering the first grade or don’t have the documents to be registered in public schools. This is where the support and contribution of Skateistan comes in; students can come here and learn for one year, and we then provide the legal procedures for them to enter school again.”

“Skateboarding is a prize for all of our students. We teach them classes… and then we ask them to join one hour of skateboarding after each session. Skateboarding has become the largest sport for girls in Afghanistan and it’s all because of the opportunity that the children, especially the girls, have with Skateistan by practising in a safe space.”