All For The Children
By Thomas D. Segel (08/24/06)
Harlingen, Texas, August 2006: Wars are fought in many ways. Not all of them are with bombs and guns. Perhaps the most important weapons of war are words, ideas and dreams of the future. In a special way, the real heroes of armed conflict are those warriors who plant the seeds to make futures possible. Where do you find these exceptional people? Some are on the battlefields. Others are found at civic clubs, at the kitchen table, in classrooms and on school playgrounds. They come in many forms and have many different names. And one such small army is a force called Operation Dreamseed.
In the aftermath of those horrifying events that stamped the numbers 9/11 forever in the minds of Americans, thousands upon thousands of people searched for ways to participate in the War Against Terror. For many Americans the means to become involved was provided by one Army officer and a Texas schoolteacher.
A Houston, Texas teacher started her support in the form of a Care Package to a soldier in Afghanistan. It was never in her mind that such a small gift would grow into a national project.
On the receiving end of that Care Package was an Army company commander, who prior to deploying to Afghanistan had discussed with his mother how he might be able to reach out to children, support and encourage education in a country where girls were denied the right to attend school and boys were poorly educated in an environment of theocracy.
The teacher, Daya Watkins’ gift reached Captain Todd Schmidt, with whom she started corresponding. Their long distance friendship turned into collaboration after the Captain told her of the great need young students had for assistance. By August 2004 they had started distributing school supplies to the Afghan children. By November of the same year they had become Operation Dreamseed and were certified as a 501 c 3 non-profit corporation.
Today, what started, as concerned correspondence is an organization that is active in 46 states. Todd Schmidt serves as the current President and Daya Watkins is the Operation Dreamseed Executive Director.
Schmidt explains that what is now a national effort really grew out of what was taking place with the 153 soldiers in his company. “Great Americans from all over the United States were sending the soldiers in my company hundreds of packages a month in quiet support for our efforts in fighting the war on terror.
He continued saying, “It was not about politics, and it was about supporting American troops and doing the right thing. We simply wrote each of those heartland heroes a ‘thank you’ letter, and asked that rather than send us gifts, please send the gifts to the Afghan children - the result was incredible.”
Says Daya, "All members of the team are volunteers. No funds go toward salaries and very little toward operations. The majority goes toward the school and supplies for the children. We coordinate the contact between soldiers and civilians here in the states."
The civilian volunteer corps members are provided with the names and contact information of soldier volunteers in Afghanistan. They send their packages directly to the soldiers. who in turn deliver the gifts to children in need.
Does it work? Well, in two years Operation Dreamseed has supplied the children of that country with crayons, pencils notebooks, paper, backpacks, erasers, glue, rulers, binders, scissors and pens. A total of 1,500 children have received these supplies and Dreamseed has also funded the establishment of Kohak Primary School that has 709 boys and girls currently enrolled.
In addition to the supply kits, which are given to individual children, Dreamseed has also provided solar-powered calculators, math and geometry sets, water-color sets math practice books, coloring books, puzzles, stickers and crafts.
Money has been sent to buy desks and pay for school lunches. A gift of $100 buys lunch for 100 students for 5 days. The organization has also provided money for teacher salaries. A $50 gift provides a month's wages.
In Afghanistan, Lieutenant Colonel Joel Sloss has first hand knowledge of how important Operation Dreamseed is to his mission. Sloss was retired from the Army and working as an elementary school teacher in Cumming, Georgia when he was recalled to active duty. Because of extensive experience in the Middle East, including Afghanistan, his cultural knowledge and language ability were in critical demand.
Says Joel Sloss, “In my present job I am responsible and can quickly and systematically identify critical requirements needed by local citizens through the use of Shuras and relationship building with the local village elders. I assist in locating civil resources to support military operations, help minimize or mediate civilian interference…and maintain liaison with civilian aid agencies, commercial and private organizations.”
He goes on the explain that Afghanistan’s Minister of Education has the third largest budget of the Afghan ministries, but there still has been little effect on many of the schools located in the country’s villages. “Some of the textbooks seem to be appearing on the scene, but nothing substantive is being done for the teachers’ working conditions, pay and the necessary school infrastructure.” He continues saying that the criticality of Operation Dreamseed and other organizations in the United States is what allows him to meet his mission goals. “They constantly send us materials, which we use to support the local villages in our area of responsibility. It plays (Operation Dreamseed) a significant role and allows us to be in the position of providing much needed help to the people.”
That message alone should tell everyone this charitable effort is truly important. The need is great and ongoing.
Taliban insurgents and al Qaeda terrorists are still committing violent acts designed to derail the advance of education. They have already burned down 100 schools. One teacher was dragged from a classroom and beheaded because he was teaching girls. Only weeks ago, on July 28th al Qaeda attacked a girl's school in Parwan province with small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire.
But the peaceful efforts of Operation Dreamseed continue to march on quietly. Does it help? Is it working? Daya Watkins tells the story of an Army patrol driving down an Afghan road. As the lead HUMVee approached a village it found a small girl standing in the road. She wouldn’t move. Finally a soldier walked up to her. The little girl pointed to the side of the road. There the soldier found a hidden explosive device that could have killed or injured everyone on the patrol. The little girl did not have the language to speak out, but she knew friends would be hurt. How did she know they were friends? All those minutes in the road time she was clutching to her breast a plastic bag filled with school supplies given to her by American servicemen.
So, help through Operation Dreamseed continues to be important in many indefinable ways and the mission is in need of your help. You can obtain more information on how to become involved by contacting Daya Watkins or Todd Schmidt through their email address, . Everyone can feel very comfortable in assisting this important cause. It is all for the children…but it also has rewards for those Americans serving in the Middle East.
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