Christopher Catrambone, MOAS’ Founder, shares his reflections about the 10th Anniversary:
When MOAS launched its first mission in August of 2014, we had no idea how long our organization would be needed for, or what different kind of projects we would undertake. Now, 10 years later, I am incredibly proud and motivated when I look back on the programs we’ve implemented, the teams we’ve worked with and the lives we’ve touched.
MOAS started as a single-program mission, designed and created specifically to provide highly innovative and technologically advanced Search and Rescue services at sea. We were the first NGO of our kind in the Mediterranean, and we broke countless barriers as we created the model for non-state agency intervention during the maritime migration phenomenon over the subsequent years. MOAS has always been a disruptor, looking to fill gaps with precision programming that meets specific needs and sits outside the standardized humanitarian package of programs and services. The Mediterranean mission was an unprecedented success, saving over 40,000 souls from the Central Mediterranean and Aegean routes. We knew that the team, donors and partner relationships we had developed through these years would be of great value to communities in crisis in varied contexts and geographies globally.
Since then, MOAS has consistently developed new, context specific, gap-filling programs that service vulnerable communities, reaching hundreds of thousands of people and building models followed by other agencies in the years that follow. As the Founder of MOAS, I am constantly encouraging my team to turn over every stone and explore every opportunity available to us to improve, expand and diversify our activities. I do this because I feel a great responsibility to the people that use our services during their most desperate moments of need.
None of this is truer than in our most recent program in Ukraine. The MOAS team built the emergency medical program rapidly and with the specific context in mind into a powerful and efficient mechanism for saving lives. Our donors and supporters have purchased and equipped over 50 emergency response vehicles and paid for the specialized services of 150 medics, anaesthetists and tactical drivers to operate the fleet. They’ve supplied our inventory with medications and medical equipment needed to treat the most critically injured soldiers coming off the front line of the war and supported us in our operations through sponsorship, networking, advocacy and much more. It’s an incredibly resource-heavy operation, but it is unique in its access, reach, specialism and achievements in the field. At MOAS we are all aware of how much responsibility we hold for doing justice to the investments made in our work and for being given the privilege of treating these soldiers, who are sacrificing themselves for the sovereignty of their nation on a daily basis.
It can be incredibly hard to maintain the level of programming we are committed to, but everyone at MOAS is deeply invested in the work we do, and in doing all we can to support the field teams in their mission to save lives. Ten years since MOAS’ inception I look back with admiration at all we have achieved, but I also know that we have much still to do, and we need to continue to forge ahead if we are to have the greatest impact possible in the field.
I myself have overseen the development and implementation of every one of MOAS’ most significant operations, living in the field, analyzing the gaps and the needs, developing project methodology and recruiting the teams on the ground. Seeing the work unfold firsthand is what motivates me to keep MOAS alive.
On this, our 10th birthday, I wish everyone in the MOAS community well, and encourage everyone to continue to look for ways in which you can help make a difference in the lives of others, whether that happens through partnership with MOAS, or independently.
To donate to MOAS’ Birthday Fund, please click here, and for more information on our operations and methodology please email us at [email protected]