Afghan Pilot Program

Dream & Achieve Winner Faizulhaq Moshkani

Bamyan founder Anna Elliot launched Fekr wa Talosh or Dream & Achieve in Afghanistan in the spring of 2008. The series aired on Tolo TV, Afghanistan’s top network, after securing financial support from a major telecom operator, the National Bank of Afghanistan, and USAID. The show was an immediate and startling success and became the number one TV hit of the season.

An estimated average of seven million viewers tuned in each week to learn about microfinance, developing a business plan, and even to vote for their favorite innovative idea. Broadcast in two languages and filmed across the country, the show introduced thousands of participants to resources and new ideas about social business. Perhaps most importantly, the show changed the dialogue in Afghanistan by recognizing and celebrating the citizens who—despite the challenges and risks involved—are rebuilding their country after three decades of war.

Already through its second season, local sponsorship has doubled, and in the first month of outreach in Season 2, there were as many applicants as there were in the entire first series. Most recently, the story of Maryam’s extraordinary rise from impoverished refugee to Taliban-defying small business owner was profiled on BBC Panorama as being a beacon of hope for women all over Afghanistan.