“I learned that anything is possible. That nothing will go as planned, and there is no room for expectations. One is better off being open to the mystery and potential of each moment.” To produce the series, Anna partnered with Tolo TV, the top Afghan network; recruited judges from the business, banking and academic sectors; and with a novel outreach program, interviewed hundreds of potential program contestants. Fast Company reports that Anna “ended up driving from village to village for in-person meetings with local leaders and trade organizations. In the process, she gained an intimate understanding of the roadblocks to success: How does a carpet weaver navigate the USAID grant process? What questions do bankers ask a leather maker when he’s taking out a loan? How does microfinance work?” Anna is not a huge television fan; she doesn’t watch it. “But it has the potential to be an agent for profound social change,” Anna says. “It’s a universal storytelling blaster. No matter how 8 Milton Magazine
poor you are, you probably have a TV in your home. It’s creating the stories of today, the stories that are shaping your world.” The name Bamyan Media comes from Bamyan Province. “The first place we started casting,” Anna says, “called into question the typical notions of ‘development,’ the paradigm that drives international economic development agencies.” These typical notions are complicated by the way people live their lives. “This province is in the central mountains, located on what was the Silk Route. It is home to the Hazara ethnic minority, the underdogs of Afghanistan, who suffer prejudice and have survived a violent past. Yet, they’re one of the most resilient communities. Bamyan has the highest rate of literacy, the greatest number of women in local government, no poppy growth, and a strong tradition of enterprising merchants who continue to rebuild their land time and time again after centuries of conquest.” After the success of “Dream and Achieve,” Anna earned an Echoing Green Fellowship and a Rainor Arnholds Fellowship for her work. Both foundations honor social change agents. Her awards enabled her to move the format to Egypt, where Bamyan (now including 20 staffers) has been working steadily and sensitively on producing “El Mashroua,” which means “The Project” in Arabic. (There is no direct translation for entrepreneur, let alone social entrepreneur, in Arabic.) In Egypt, “The Project” will be airing on the country’s largest TV channel this spring. Bamyan has adapted the format to the local context, including episode “challenges” such as setting up a catering or T-shirt