Scientology Volunteer Minister’s firsthand report on the work of the Haiti Disaster Response Team

| Port-au-Prince, Haiti 9 February 2010 |

When she heard that the Church of Scientology had chartered a plane to bring medical supplies, doctors, nurses and volunteer support to Haiti, Elena, a Scientology Volunteer Minister and staff member at the Church of Scientology of Tampa, called her sister Michaela and booked a seat for both of them on the January 16 flight.

They arrived in Haiti five days after the 7.0 earthquake destroyed most of the city of Port-au-Prince. With a hold full of medical supplies, the plane brought over 100 doctors, nurses and EMTs to provide urgently needed care and a team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers to support them in their work.

As soon as they touched down they got to work, the Volunteer Ministers unloading the medical supplies with the help of military personnel. Getting to sleep at three in the morning, the volunteers were awake again at dawn to begin their first day at Port-au-Prince General Hospital.

The hospital had been so thoroughly destabilized by the earthquake, patients had been moved out onto lawns and sidewalks. Lacking even the most basic equipment, supplies and administrative support, doctors were battling to save lives.

Elena and her team were assigned to the critical care unit. They resolved that no matter what was required of them, they were going to provide any possible assistance so the doctors and nurses could save lives.

First priority was feeding patients—in the chaos since the earthquake, some of the patients had not eaten for three or four days. Next was helping in any way they could to get patients ready for surgery. With the doctors working nonstop in the operating room, there were patients unable to receive needed surgery for want of x-rays, so the volunteers organized the area and sped up the process, getting needed x-rays done so the doctors could operate.

With the doctors working grueling twelve-hour shifts, there had been no personnel working through the night, so Elena and her team worked out a night shift so the patients were always attended.

“I have never felt as proud but humble as I am to have been in Haiti as a Scientology Volunteer Minister,” said Elena. “This was a team you could totally count on, all of us doing more than we ever thought possible, working for exactly the same purpose—to help the people of this country.”