Starting at minimum standards

Janwaar Castle is located at the eastern buffer zone of Pana National Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, India. Janwaar is a small village close to Panna in the nort­hern part of Madhya Pradesh – one of the biggest and poorest states in India. 1,000 people (300 children) live here, a mix of Adivasi and Yadav. Casteism and gender inequa­lity are preva­lent.

The people in Janwaar were relo­cated from the Panna National Tiger Park when the park was founded in 1981. The village has no history, it hasn’t grown up over time – the houses are widely spaced and meet minimum stan­dards. Janwaar has elec­tri­city, not in every house though, and it comes with the usual cuts of 6–8 hours a day. Water and sani­ta­tion are a big issue. There are no health faci­li­ties, no shops, stores or busi­nesses in Janwaar.

In the centre of this village, a group of profes­sional and passio­nate skate­boar­ders built a skating park: Ulrike Rein­hardt in colla­bo­ra­tion with Skate-Aid, Beton­land­schaften and lots of unnamed volun­teers. Today, Janwaar a unique place in India.

All levels welcome

The multi­func­tional skate faci­lity can be used by profes­sional skate­boar­ders as well as begin­ners like kids, who have never skated before. There is enough flat surface so the basic moves like balan­cing on a board can easily be prac­ticed. Even more expe­ri­enced skaters can use this spot to work on their skills like flip­ping the board. The next step is to roll up and down sloped surfaces to get a feeling for the motion. The faci­lity provides small skate elements like banks or wobbles, where this can be prac­tised – enough to get the basic moves and enable further progress. Tran­si­tions are a classic element of skating, simply formed as a quarter of the pipe at diffe­rent radii and heights. This element requires more expe­ri­ence to skate than banks but seems to be easy to ride for most Janwaar kids.

Further elements of the faci­lity are curbs, ledges and rails which chall­enge the skills of even profes­sional skate­boar­ders. The whole skate­park can be seen as a trai­ning faci­lity for all levels. Many Indian and even some inter­na­tional profes­sio­nals come here and perform their tricks at Janwaar.

The place­ment of skate elements is a very important aspect since it deter­mines the number of users and ways to use each element. Janwaar Castle is desi­gned to be used by many students at the same time without running the risk of colli­sion. This was made possible by placing the elements in a square form. Skaters can ride from one part of the park to another while still allo­wing for a lot of free space.

The subs­truc­ture is made up from load-bearing layers of gravel, topped with rein­forced concrete that is smoot­hened in a special treat­ment. This way the noise and drags are reduced resul­ting in a smooth ride without obstruc­tions or exces­sive noise. With only volun­tary work and under the tight budget rest­ric­tions of huma­ni­ta­rian aid, it was still possible to create a unique, in-situ skate­park that holds up with reco­g­nised inter­na­tional stan­dards.

Girls first

Janwar Castle has two simple rules, „No school, no skate­boar­ding“ and „Girls first“.

Kids are taught to skate­board and they learn it sple­ndidly. More important, they learn to learn and colla­bo­rate. Kids teach other kids, encou­rage others, and build an atmo­sphere of lear­ning and prac­tice. “ No school, no skate­boar­ding ” ensures that all children at the skate­park regu­larly attend school. This has resulted in an increase in atten­dance rates of the students along with a more enthu­si­a­stic and posi­tive outlook overall.

Gender equa­lity was taught to kids using an inno­va­tive method named “Girls first!”, where any girl gets a right to use a skate­board first. All she needs to do is ask.

Sport overcomes all boundaries

Skate­boar­ding helps the students to develop their social skills and lets them interact in an uncons­trained envi­ron­ment. It helps them to commu­ni­cate more and exch­ange their skating expe­ri­ences. These abili­ties have a posi­tive influence on their life since inter­ac­ting provides cont­acts and improves commu­ni­ca­tion skills.

Janwaar Castle provides a strongly empowe­ring plat­form for the youn­gest to build upon. It enables them to change their tradi­tional mindset and build a better future for them­selves and their country instead of telling them what to do and how to do it.