Scientology Disaster Relief

Volunteer Ministers have been involved in disaster relief efforts all over the world. This includes a corps hundreds strong at Ground Zero within hours of the 9/11 tragedy, more than 500 volunteers from 11 nations in Southeast Asia in the wake of the tsunami, over 900 Volunteer Ministers attending to victims in Louisiana and Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Rita and in the Haiti earthquake disaster, the Church of Scientology and its parishioners flew in plane loads of much-needed medical and food supplies. In addition they brought in hundreds of medical professionals and Scientology Volunteer Ministers to help Haitians cope with their losses and rebuild their lives.

Volunteer Ministers have also trained and partnered with over 500 different groups, organizations and agencies around the world including the Red Cross, FEMA, National Guard, Army Cadets, Salvation Army, Boy Scouts, Rotary Clubs, civil defense and disaster management agencies, YMCAs, police and fire departments of dozens of cities and towns and hundreds more national and regional groups and organizations.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Acknowledged for their Help After Mumbai Terror Attack

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers were featured in a recent edition of India’s UpperCrust Magazine for their work in the wake of last year’s Mumbai terror attacks. The article acknowledges the importance of their contribution, not only in helping victims of the attack but in training emergency response personnel and health care specialists to cope effectively with any future terrorism or disasters.

The article tells how the Scientology team worked with the staff at Sir JJ Hospital to help the victims of the terrorism. Once the majority of those admitted had been discharged from the hospital, the Scientologists, consisting of members of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers India Goodwill Tour and local volunteers whom they have trained, worked with colleges and Mumbai University to train students and faculty in Scientology techniques that increase effectiveness in the face of disaster. Among those they trained were the trainers of the Maharashtra Civil Defense team.

The article featured an interview with Marion Whitta, the leader of the Scientology Volunteers. Asked why Scientology is so popular in India, Marion stated, “It’s simply a case of workability. People in India are interested in personality improvement and are seeking solutions for the work-a-day world, whether how to do better at work or how to be a great mother or how to be able to graduate as a student…who knows and can effectively apply what he or she has learned.” She went on to say that “people want solutions to their problems or they just want to improve their condition in life and when they find technology that is simple, something they can apply for themselves, then they want exactly that.”

Pointing out that this is not the first time Scientology has been acknowledged for its work in India, the article states: “As to the founder of this movement, Mr. L. Ron Hubbard, here is a man already known to many Indians as he was awarded, in March 2006 in Delhi, with the prestigious Shristi award (the first time this national award has been bestowed on a man not of Indian heritage),” and that he was again honored last August by the Indian Lions Club in Delhi with the posthumous presentation of their Humanitarian Award.

The article points out that the India Scientology tour has been traveling throughout the country since its arrival in 2005. “Training seminars have been delivered to literally thousands of professionals as well as students” and to “hundreds of police officers in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Mysore,” including BSF (the Border Security Force) and CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) officers.

But the article also notes that the Scientology Volunteer Ministers provide help and training to anyone, as the article states, including “the ‘man in the street’ who just wants to be able to get along better in some aspect of his life.”

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site offers 19 extension courses which can be done over the net as a free service to anyone who wants to improve some aspect of his or her life.

For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, visit their web site atwww.volunteerministers.org.