iREAMDevelopment (International Rural Education Awareness Mission) is a Canada based NPO that works towards rural scholastic development in India. It was founded in 2014 by Sharmila Gunjal, who serves as the Director of the NPO.
Its primary mission is to contribute to improved standard of living and development especially of the rural poor in India. Various programs are being run to achieve the following end objectives
- To financially assist institutions providing education to underprivileged children in rural India.
- To provide opportunities to individuals living outside India who wish to participate in development activities in India.
- To address, whenever possible, other issues affecting human life such as health care, environment, socio-economic aspects and women’s issues.
- To help farmers to earn extra income by giving them advice regarding crops and helping link them to the markets. (especially in the Vidarbha region in India where famer suicides are rampant)
Global food security and agricultural development are the main areas of expertise of the Organization’s Chief Advisor, Mr. Kisan Gunjal, who has experience of working as a food security economist for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for 12 years (2002 to 2014) and professor of agricultural economics at McGill University for 20 years prior to that (1981-2002).
So far our work has seen the implementation of several projects in the state of Maharashtra, India involving the provision of donations and necessary items, such as furniture, food supplies and computers to schools in remote areas. Currently the NGO is an implementing partner with an Agricultural University in Maharashtra in the IFAD funded project: Program for development of alternative biofuel crops for livelihood security in the tribal area of Vidarbha.
We are a growing organisation and our aim is to increase our impact in supporting sustainable development in rural and tribal villages of India.
Sharmila’s story
Sharmila grew up in an Indian village named Khamgaon in the district of Buldhana, in the state of Maharashtra, and had experienced the hardships of daily life. She was always keen on working for projects which aim to helping farmers reduce poverty through development and improve living standards of poor people in different communities.
After completing baccalaureate degree in India, she gained some field experience working as a team leader conducting a household survey on health and food consumption in seven villages in the district of Buldhana, India for the Foundation for Agro Ecological Sciences in Maharashtra, India
When Sharmila moved to Rome due to her husband’s UN assignment, she did fundraising via catering business. With the collected money she decided to provide basics to a Mute and Deaf school in Khamgaon., Maharashtra, India. She provided the residential school with food supplies, computers with specialised keyboards, hearing aids and school benches.
In 2006, Sharmila actively volunteered with an NGO Community action for Rural Development(CARD), India as a documentation officer- writing, editing, and filing proposals. She was an Implementing partner through iREAM (Non Government Organization) for the IFAD Project-2010-2012(International Fund for Agricultural Development of United Nations– UN) which entailed training women, families about several subjects like woman empowerment, earning extra income through cash crops like Jatropha, pongemia. During field visits in six districts of Maharashtra State in India there was interaction with 75 microfinance women groups(MFI) and several self-help groups (SHG).
One of the significant projects she worked on was Convergence of Agriculture Interventions(CAIM) in six distressed districts in Maharashtra, India. The project was supported by IFAD, Sir Ratan Tata Trust and World Bank and implemented through CARD.
In 2012, Sharmila founded NGO-International Rural Education Awareness Mission (iREAM), India and in 2014 – iREAMDevelopment, CANADA was born. The Canadian NPO and the sister NGO, iREAM, India run various projects under its umbrella.
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Last Updated: May 15, 2018 by iREAM & iREAMDevelopment
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iREAMDevelopment (International Rural Education Awareness Mission) is a Canada based NPO that works towards rural scholastic development in India. It was founded in 2014 by Sharmila Gunjal, who serves as the Director of the NPO.
Its primary mission is to contribute to improved standard of living and development especially of the rural poor in India. Various programs are being run to achieve the following end objectives
Global food security and agricultural development are the main areas of expertise of the Organization’s Chief Advisor, Mr. Kisan Gunjal, who has experience of working as a food security economist for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for 12 years (2002 to 2014) and professor of agricultural economics at McGill University for 20 years prior to that (1981-2002).
So far our work has seen the implementation of several projects in the state of Maharashtra, India involving the provision of donations and necessary items, such as furniture, food supplies and computers to schools in remote areas. Currently the NGO is an implementing partner with an Agricultural University in Maharashtra in the IFAD funded project: Program for development of alternative biofuel crops for livelihood security in the tribal area of Vidarbha.
We are a growing organisation and our aim is to increase our impact in supporting sustainable development in rural and tribal villages of India.
Sharmila’s story
Sharmila grew up in an Indian village named Khamgaon in the district of Buldhana, in the state of Maharashtra, and had experienced the hardships of daily life. She was always keen on working for projects which aim to helping farmers reduce poverty through development and improve living standards of poor people in different communities.
After completing baccalaureate degree in India, she gained some field experience working as a team leader conducting a household survey on health and food consumption in seven villages in the district of Buldhana, India for the Foundation for Agro Ecological Sciences in Maharashtra, India
When Sharmila moved to Rome due to her husband’s UN assignment, she did fundraising via catering business. With the collected money she decided to provide basics to a Mute and Deaf school in Khamgaon., Maharashtra, India. She provided the residential school with food supplies, computers with specialised keyboards, hearing aids and school benches.
In 2006, Sharmila actively volunteered with an NGO Community action for Rural Development(CARD), India as a documentation officer- writing, editing, and filing proposals. She was an Implementing partner through iREAM (Non Government Organization) for the IFAD Project-2010-2012(International Fund for Agricultural Development of United Nations– UN) which entailed training women, families about several subjects like woman empowerment, earning extra income through cash crops like Jatropha, pongemia. During field visits in six districts of Maharashtra State in India there was interaction with 75 microfinance women groups(MFI) and several self-help groups (SHG).
One of the significant projects she worked on was Convergence of Agriculture Interventions(CAIM) in six distressed districts in Maharashtra, India. The project was supported by IFAD, Sir Ratan Tata Trust and World Bank and implemented through CARD.
In 2012, Sharmila founded NGO-International Rural Education Awareness Mission (iREAM), India and in 2014 – iREAMDevelopment, CANADA was born. The Canadian NPO and the sister NGO, iREAM, India run various projects under its umbrella.
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