There are those kind of skateboarders, which hardly invest any energy beside the act of skateboarding itself into their local skateboarding community and then there are others, who give all they have for skateboarding! Robin Finkbeiner is def. one of the second group, who doesn´t talk a lot, but is always ready for another DIY Project.
While Robin was volunteering for a few months at the beginning of this year at the nairobi skatepark teaching the kids from the shangilia childrens school & orphanage, he also found the time and energy to do a lot of concrete repairs, built this beautiful little ledge (below), organized several events and even constructed a new concrete pyramide. So we thought, it´s finally more than time for you guys (and girls) to Meet our Homie Robin:
Hey, who are you and what are you doing in Kenya?
Hey my name is robin and I’m the current volunteer, sent by skateaid for the shangilia skatepark in Nairobi.
I do skateboarding lessons for the kids and I’m taking care for the maintenance of the skate park.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how did u had the idea to volunteer for skateaid?
I’m 22 years old and from a small city in the south of Germany. Skateboarding had a big positive influence to my life.
So when I first heard about Skateaid I could really identify myself with the projects and volunteer work they are offering. The project in Kenya was very fascinating to me because of the work with streetchildren and Africa
was always a land I wanted to travel to.
Robin Finkbeiner – Shangilia part from Africa Skateboarding Magazine on Vimeo.
Tell us a little bit about the park and your future plans?
The skate park is a very special place. Its on the plot from shangilia school/orphanage in the kibagaree village. The area around seems so rural that you don’t believe you are in Nairobi. The park is actually big and has lots of fun stuff to offer. I like to skate there with and the kids. Beside some repair work I want to build more obstacles and we’ve just
started to build a new, small and smooth pyramid. The feeling of skating your own stuff is so great, that’s why I like it. Also a pyramid and the ledge are two things I miss in the park and I think the kids and locals will really enjoy.
So what is actually necessary to build a nice ledge like the “black coffin”?
You just need some smooth and strong wood, some screws and a cooping for the edge. Also, necessary is a screwdriver, a saw and sandpaper. The wood for the outside should be smooth and big enough for what you are planning. For the inside construction I used smaller but also durable boards. The cooping is easy to get. They use it for several other construction work so u get it in many hardware stores.
Was it an easy project or did you had some issues with finding all the stuff?
I’m not a local, so I thought it would be pretty difficult. I just asked some people that I know from the Shangilia orphanage whitch are a little bit into crafting. It took just a few phonecalls and a few kenyashillings to get the material for an affordable price.
Any tips for skaters, who would like to build also a ledge or something else to skate?
My tip is not to consider long and just do it. In the end there’s always a way to finish diy projects. For the ledge or any other obstacle it’s sure important to work very accurately to make it smooth for skateboarding. Take your time and be patient even though it’s so hard to wait till skating it.
SHOPPING LIST (for our “Black Coffin” Ledge):
– screws 4 Inch 60x for the box construction
– screws 2 inch 14x to add the cooping
– cooping 7 foot 2x
– wood
– boards for inside construction
TOOLS:
– drill
– saw
– sandpaper (we used 3 meters to get it very smooth)
BUDGET:
– wood 4000ksh (around 40$ or less)
– screws and sandpaper 2000 (around 20$ or less)