Women’s Annex gives women around the globe a chance to connect with others through film and writing. One of the best parts of the site, for me at least, is seeing videos that show the progression of the Afghan Development Project. This initiative, started in 2012, has already built 12 connected classrooms in Afghanistan for Afghan girls and boys to learn computer skills, filmmaking and more. These 12 classrooms serve thousands of children across Afghanistan, but the Afghan Development Project is far from over. The Project seeks to connect 40 Afghanistan schools for girls and boys, providing them with 400 computers and bringing technology to 160,000 children across the country.

Not only is this project inspirational, it could truly be game-changing. Womens rights in Afghanistan suffered under the rule of the Taliban. However, women in Afghanistan today are political leaders, teachers, businesswomen and more. Part of this is due to the education of women in Afghanistan. Many of the most prominent women in Afghanistan cite some sort of higher education in their background. The Afghan Development Project will help girls connect with others around the globe and realize their full potential. Through social media and technology courses, their ability to share their thoughts and discover their futures is greater, perhaps, than Afghan children at any other point in history.

Education in Afghanistan will continue to play a critical role in developing Afghan girls into strong leaders. Gaining technological skills while in Afghanistan schools for girls will give them a distinct advantage when it’s time to pursue further education. The Afghan Development Project isn’t simply giving girls an outlet to the rest of the world, it could very well be providing them with a future. As Francesco Rulli, CEO and President of Film Annex, says in the video below, “Now is time for us to take the cable, connect the computers, and make the children who use the computers very good programmers and developers so the country itself can benefit from the investment.”