Tsunami Aid and Disaster Relief News - Scientology Volunteer Ministers

To provide additional relief, two more teams of Volunteer Ministers have now left Britain for India and the Maldives.

In Indonesia, VMs continue to work alongside doctors and nurses in three hospitals in Medan on the northeast coast of Sumatra, providing trauma relief to those who survived the tsumani’s devastation. At the same time, VMs are working in tandem with relief agencies to establish an administrative structure that can withstand the confusion generated by a disaster of this magnitude and make it possible to provide counseling and practical help to the maximum number of people.

The heavy volume of people left in shock and not able to progress with their lives is more than the VMs can cope with on a one-on-one basis. A Trauma Tent has therefore been set up in Banda Aceh, where the VMs both minister assists personally and train others to do so. Those being trained include a group of Muslim clerics.

As word spreads, the VMs have been receiving requests for trauma relief from all over Aceh. Among those helped yesterday were a husband and wife who lost their two-year-old son when the force of the tsunami dragged the boy from the husband’s arms as the family ran from the wave. A VM gave the wife a Dianetics counseling session, while another VM separately gave the husband an assist.

By the end, both husband and wife were actually smiling, probably for the first time since the tragedy. They left greatly relieved and feeling able to resume their lives.

The VM In-Charge accompanied an army captain on a visit to a refugee base that has now been set up for those who have lost their homes. There are currently 600 people there, with plans to relocate a total of 8,000. The VMs started delivering assists to those at the base.

Not surprisingly, many people in the local fishing villages now feared the sea and would not go near it — yet, their livelihood depends on it. In one village, fishing boats that could easily be repaired and put to use sat idle on the beach.

Through giving assists, the VMs have been helping these people to rebuild their lives. Many of the fishermen now feel capable of getting back to work and resuming the activities that they and their families rely on for their survival.

Due to the thousands and thousands of people needing help, training others has become a major activity of the VMs. In the Tamil region, 118 people were trained to perform assists. The students soon see the positive results and are eager to put what they have learned into practice.

The VMs visited Kandy in the center of the island, where a Buddhist monk runs four monasteries, two orphan centers and one school. As this person has witnessed the success of Dianetics trauma counseling, he has arranged that VMs train 20 of his monks in basic Dianetics procedures so they can go out and help with trauma relief efforts.

If you can help with donations or wish to volunteer time, call (323) 960-1949 or 1-800-435-7498 or e-mail vm@volunteerministers.org

1. Assists are techniques developed by L. Ron Hubbard. They operate on the principle that one tends to withdraw mentally or spiritually from an injured area. Only by restoring communication with this area can one bring the spiritual element into healing, thereby greatly speeding the healing process. Assists are used to alleviate stress and physical aches and pains, or to orient a confused or distraught individual to his present environment.

SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS