A Volunteer’s Success Story at M&AOSB

Pyae Pyae Phyo

Myint & Associates Offshore Supply Base (M&AOSB) appreciates people with the right talents. Daw Kay Khaing Moe accepted M&AOSB’s job offer and began working as a Community-based Facilitator in September 2019. After 14 months of partnering with the company as a community-based volunteer, her dreams came true: being gainfully employed near home.

Daw Kay Khaing Moe, a middle-aged woman with a charming smile and voice, actively participated in coordinating between the community and M&AOSB while simultaneously raising two daughters. Juggling between work and being a mother is challenging, but Daw Kay Khaing Moe was able to manage her time to be efficient and effective in accomplishing her duties both at work and at home.

Daw Kay Khaing Moe feels blessed, especially because her two daughters who consistently support her. Neither of them had once ever complained about her dream of working for the development of their community. While also owning a personal business planning weddings during her free time, Daw Kay Khaing Moe has a solid engagement with community members. Thus, she has a direct line to the voices of the community, shares with them the company’s approaches.

She shared with the community her experiences from a cross-community learning visit to Mann Field in Minbu Township, Magwe, where MPRL E&P operates as the service contractor to MOGE responsible for enhancing production, under a Performance Compensation Contract (PCC). During the trip to Mann Field in December 2018, she mingled with one of community-based volunteers in Mann Field where they openly discussed their challenging experiences as volunteers before becoming fully fledged staff. This trip had strengthened her resolve to pursue her dreams even though she, at times, faced challenges in building a community partnership. She also gained great courage when she saw how the local administrators in Mann Field gave their support in mobilizing the community.

According to Daw Kay Khaing Moe, the community in Nga Yoke Kaung was paying more attention to M&AOSB’s CSR program and the OGM process now compared to last year. Among trainings completed as part of the M&AOSB CSR Training Series this year, women-centered trainings such as trainings for Home-made Food Products, Value-added Consumer Goods, and Water Treatment Techniques were very effective and half of the trainees have already begun making items such as popcorn, jelly, and soap. The water treatment techniques were also successful in Nga Yoke Kaung and Nanttharpu as the community was delighted to access clear and cleaner drinking water. Most of the trainees were excited to apply their knowledge from the company’s CSR training series, especially after the monsoon season.

As a university degree-holder with previous volunteering experiences in two local NGOs, Daw Kay Khaing Moe was very enthusiastic to share her knowledge and experience with the next generation of volunteers with the aim of helping her community to thrive. She believed the collaboration between the company and the community was just like how “grass depends on the island, and the island on the grass,” and it would make both parties prosper.

She wishes M&AOSB’s project to be the one that the community could rely in the long-term. As she said, “a good tree can lodge ten thousand birds.” She believes that the company will take full responsibility and accountability based on what she witnessed during her visit to Mann Field.