Frequently when I am sharing a speech on Afghanistan I make the comment, “Sometimes we don’t get the whole story from our American media.” The response is usually laughter. Two factors are working together here. First, Americans like looking at the proverbial train wreck. Bad news sells; if you want to take a camera into Afghanistan and find corruption, you will find it. After all, our government has been training them for a decade.
Second, every news agency has an agenda. This is not new and has been part of American media since Ben Franklin ran a printing press in Philadelphia. My recommendation is always to find multiple news sources, especially ones that disagree with your ideology. Then by all means make sure you aren’t letting anyone else do your thinking for you.
I spent 2 hours on the Skype this morning with a few of my Afghan friends. Although life can be tough for them in ways Americans can’t imagine, they are hopeful for the future.
Our businesses are starting to deliver better technical product to our digital marketing clients in Texas and our app development clients in Virginia. Several of my friends are collaborating on their own initiative to start a technical training school. A for-profit professional school that will bridge two significant gaps for their country’s computer science graduates. First in their technical and web development capacity, and next in their business English skills.
The real breakthrough at work here is the fact that it is 100% Afghan led. During the reconstruction years, lots of work was done, driven by the NGO’s and what they wanted to fund. This is one of the first projects I have seen where Afghans are identifying the opportunities and investing their own precious resources to get it started. Planting the seeds of truly sustainable development.
Imagine if the Silk Road became the next Silicon Valley. Afghanistan’s economy could be strengthened towards independence if this works. We are completely committed to assisting without getting in the way or creating dependence.
Here is how you can help.
- We have a team of developers that are ready to go to India to accelerate the training and will need a little help renting the office space for a month.
- Introduce us to business that need digital marketing, app development, or other outsourced technical help.
- Buy some of our low cost capacity to help your business be more profitable.
And as always, please pray for wisdom, efficiency, and effectiveness with limited resources, and the safety of our friends and their families who are bold enough to lead Afghanistan forward.