Building schools in Afghanistan has been a serious topic for the last ten years. The book, Three Cups of Tea, has been a revealing bestseller but also a source of criticism and law suites.

Film Annex's stance on building schools in Afghanistan is very simple and direct: We are combining Film Annex's online video platform, video production and marketing services (Film Annex Buzz) with Roya Mahboob's Citadel software and networking services in Afghanistan to provide internet classrooms to 40 schools in the Herat are and connect 160,000 students with the world. The project is named the Afghan Development Initiative.

The premises of our success in Afghanistan are not solely humanitarian but also a rational business choice.

Here are a few factors that contribute to our success:

• Low overhead: We are not building a new infrastructure and administration, we use digital communications to share information and wire funds to Film Annex Afghanistan, we limit the costs of travel and management to a minimunum.
• Independent: Internet is regulated by users, consequently our partners, beneficiaries, and supporters can freely express opinions. And based on the quality of the content, they can provide support for our project. 1 million viewers can generate 40 million page views and potentially create a sponsorship of $200,000 additional funds. It is in our interest to produce compelling and educational content to attract as many viewers as possible.
• Fast: Skype calls are free and immediate versus expensive and time consuming travels.
• Quantifiable: We have several tools to measure our performance, starting from our Quantcast to long tail keyword strategies. Please google the Keywords: Building Schools In Afghanistan, and see who is in the first page!
• Buzz: Film Annex Buzz is our most succesful set of business to business services and is provided at no cost to both the Afghan Development initiative and (G.I.V.E.).

Allowing Afghan students to learn foreign languages, teaching them to operate new technologies and applications will project their base salary potential from $0.50 to $3.80/hr. This is an amazing return on the investment.

Building schools in Afghanistan and supporting Afghanistan's women education is our mission but also a great business opportunity.

francesco rulli

follow me @rullifrancesco