Operation Dreamseed was a
New York-based
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
that supported educational initiatives in underdeveloped nations. Founded in August 2004 by U.S. Army Major Todd Schmidt while he was deployed to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, the program delivered school supplies through American military servicemembers working with local residents.
History
While patrolling from
Kandahar Airfield
Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, also referred to as Kandahar International Airport ( ps, د کندهار نړيوال هوايي ډګر) and by some military officials as Kandahar Airfield, KAF) , is located about south-east of the city K ...
during his tour of duty, Major Schmidt, along with thousands of other American and Coalition troops, became aware of the dire conditions of the schools and the education system in the Southern Region.
Major Schmidt worked with the law firm of
Shearman & Sterling, LLP, to incorporate Operation Dreamseed in the State of New York. Operation Dreamseed was officially incorporated on November 12, 2004. An initial grant of $10,000 was provided by Spirit of America in March 2005 for the organization to establish its operations on a larger scale and to accomplish its first large projects in
Kandahar
Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...
.
Activities
Operation Dreamseed's first action began with volunteers packing and shipping boxes of school supplies for military servicemembers to distribute in Afghanistan. In 2005, in cooperation with Help the Afghan Children, Operation Dreamseed helped renovate and rebuild Kohak Village Primary School in
Kandahar City
Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the ca ...
. In 2009, Operation Dreamseed completed work on building a basic science lab in Kandahar City at Aino Girls' School.
As Operation Dreamseed grew the organization spread its scope to
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
,
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
and
Colombia.
Operation Dreamseed also helped to launch a second international non-governmental organization, The changeIT Project in 2009, under the leadership of Christian Nielsen of Quinnipiac University. The changeIT Project provides ESL grants to disadvantaged students in Nicaragua to assist them in attending school and learning English.
Awards
*2007: Microsoft Above and Beyond Everyday Difference Award
See also
*
Education in Afghanistan
Education in Afghanistan includes K–12 and higher education, which is under the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education. In 2021, there were nearly 10 million students and 220,000 teachers in Afghanistan. The nation still requi ...
*
Help Afghan School Children Organization
Help Afghan School Children Organization (HASCO) is a Vienna-based non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the promotion of education of Afghan disadvantaged children. HASCO was founded in 2002 by an Afghan humanitarian Hafizullah Kha ...
References
{{Reflist, 2
Children's charities based in the United States
Development charities based in the United States
Charities based in New York (state)
Organizations established in 2004