Film Annex has over 280,000 registered users and of those 5200 are from Afghanistan. Film Annex shows 30 million videos a day to 12 million unique viewers a month! When I want to reach Afghanistan I can email my contacts, set a social media strategy to promote and educate, I can transfer or stream video and audio files; in essence I can be there in a split of a second and make a difference.
Some of my friends work in banks, others are engineers, doctors, and athletes, but none of them has 280,000 registered users, 300 contacts in Afghanistan, and an online video platform that allows filmmakers, writers and viewers to make money online with Internet. This means it's up to me and others in this industry to make a difference and help the educational system of Afghanistan.
Today, I met with two representatives from one of my ad networks to see if they are willing to support our initiative by promoting it on their platforms. My solution is to consolidate a mutual strategy to promote the Afghan Development project and the building of schools in Afghanistan: 40 Internet classrooms in 40 Schools in Herat to connect 160,000 students with the rest of the world. They were enthusiastic about the project and are willing to work with us.
Just imagine if companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google would join an initiative like this! Unfortunately the bigger the company, the slower the decision-making process. People complain about the Afghanistan government system, but at times I wonder if there's a difference between that and large corporate entities.
Afghanistan war articles are fading away and are being replaced by positive articles on Afghanistan education and Afghan women entrepreneurship. Our Afghan Development Web TV now has great content and great positive stories. Next week, I expect the first footage from the high school in Herat and some great recipes of Afghan cooking. The Afghan new year just happened last week so it's a good way to celebrate.
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