Donates 741 solar lanterns to help underprivileged monastic education students in Ayeyarwaddy, Rakhine and Tanintharyi, bringing nationwide donation total to over 2000 units
(Tal Chaung Village, Ayeyarwaddy Region, 5^th July, 2016) – MPT, Myanmar’s first and leading telecommunications operator, marked the successful conclusion of its “Lighting the Way Forward” solar donation initiative following a donation ceremony held at the Tal Chaung Monastic School in Tal Chaung Village, which received solar lanterns as part of the 741 units distributed to the Ayeyarwaddy, Rakhine and Tanintharyi regions. This innovative corporate social responsibility (CSR) education campaign by MPT was carried out with the aim to provide solar-powered light and electricity to over 600 underequipped monastic schools across Myanmar.

The Venerable Sayardaw Ashin Yaywatar Linkarya, the secretary monk representing monastic education for Ayeryawaddy Region who spoke at the ceremony in Tal Chaung, welcomed the benefits these solar donations will provide for so many underprivileged students. “Previously, many of our students in this region had to rely on candlelight or brave darker classroom conditions. Especially during the rainy season which can affect their learning experience in bad weather. The reliable access to sources of lighting and electricity from the solar lanterns will certainly aid our efforts to educate them for a brighter future. We are thankful for these donations and the help they provide to both our students and teachers.”

Mr. Yoshiaki Benino, Chief Operation Officer of MPT–KSGM Joint Operation, who was also in attendance at the donation ceremony, expressed his enthusiasm for company’s innovative education initiative which ended its national rollout in Ayeyarwaddy Region. “Since commencing our campaign to bring light to monastic schools nationwide earlier this year, we have equipped hundreds of classrooms with these solar lanterns, assisting many students around Myanmar to study better along the way. This underlines MPT’s commitment to positively engaging communities here and making a meaningful difference in their lives in areas such as education. We hope that the better-lit and more conducive learning environment will spur on the students in their pursuit for knowledge.”

This donation event at Tal Chaung, a small village over five hours drive from the region capital Pathein, memorably capped off MPT’s “Lighting the Way Forward” CSR initiative, which saw more than 2,000 solar lanterns distributed to help about 58,000 underprivileged students in 632 schools nationwide study in brighter classrooms this year. For its final phase, about 217 monastic in Ayeyarwaddy, Rakhine and Tanintharyi regions schools that do not have electricity were equipped with 741 solar units this month. MPT’s rollout was made possible by the generous contributions of MPT customers who successfully made their bids at the recent MPT Vanity Numbers Auction in December 2015, which raised Ks 292.7 Million in funds for the cause.

The solar lanterns are products of Panasonic known as “Eneloop Solar Storage” units. Made of solar panels, storage batteries, and light-emitting diodes (LED), they store energy generated during the day, which can then be used to power the LED lights for 6 to 8 hours during the night or in low-light conditions when it is cloudy or raining. Each unit can function up to 24 hours on a single five-hour charge and has a unit lifetime of up to five years. Batteries for the units are replaceable, hence reducing operations cost as well as the need for maintenance. The solar storage units have the added capability to charge small mobile devices such as mobile phones via a USB port, allowing these isolated local communities to stay connected.

For more information on MPT’s CSR initiatives to improve the lives of communities around Myanmar, please visit https://www.mpt.com.mm/en/whats-new/csr-activities/ to learn more.