Bringing Help and Succor Across Ecuador
A Volunteer Minister from Ecuador steps forward in times of need—delivering real help and lasting solutions.
Scientology Volunteer Minister Pilar Guatumillo of Quito, Ecuador, has brought help to communities affected by natural disasters, working directly with families and public institutions to improve conditions where assistance is urgently needed.
Her first encounter with the Scientology Volunteer Ministers (VMs) was in 2019. “I have always liked and worked in social aid,” Guatumillo says. While in Colombia, she met the Volunteer Ministers and learned about their work. When she returned to Ecuador, she contacted the person in charge of the VMs in the country who guided Guatumillo through the Tools for Life online courses.
In 2020, Guatumillo officially joined the Volunteer Minister team. “I joined as a VM and helped with the sanitization project in response to COVID-19,” she explains. As part of the effort, VMs assisted with sanitization in approximately 40 buildings during a critical time. This work was part of an international response by the Church of Scientology’s Volunteer Ministers to bring help to communities worldwide—an effort documented at Scientology.TV/DoSomething.
In 2022, she was appointed head of the Volunteer Ministers in Ecuador and completed studying The Scientology Handbook. “With that responsibility, I was able to work on various national and international projects, delivering all the help that the Volunteer Minister Technology can offer,” she says.
Among the outreach activities, the VMs worked with government institutions. Through agreements with the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, they helped revitalize La Ferroviaria Comprehensive Family Center in a high-risk area in southern Quito, benefiting surrounding neighborhoods. Their hard work did not go unnoticed and was acknowledged by the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion of Ecuador.
Guatumillo and her team of VMs have also provided help at disaster sites. In Esmeraldas, after a 6.3 earthquake hit in 2025, they teamed up with another local disaster response organization and provided help to affected people. One woman approached the Volunteer Ministers yellow tent suffering from severe back pain. She received a Scientology assist—spiritual first aid that relieves emotional shock and trauma. “During the assist, her pain intensified until she felt exhausted,” Guatumillo recalls. “But we continued and it disappeared. She felt energized again and left very happy and grateful for the help we provided.”
“She was very grateful because we not only helped her with donations, but we also helped her emotionally through the Volunteer Minister Technology.”
Guatumillo shares how she has been able to help others when natural disasters struck. During floods in Quito, she and her team helped a woman who had lost her home. VMs provided household items, food and clothing. “She was very grateful because we not only helped her with donations, but we also helped her emotionally through the Volunteer Minister Technology,” Guatumillo says.
Guatumillo exemplifies the character of a Volunteer Minister as described by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, who wrote: “A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”
GIVE WHERE IT COUNTS
The Volunteer Ministers bring indiscriminate help to all corners of the world. Your donation plays a crucial role in bringing relief to those in desperate circumstances, where every second counts and every contribution matters. Together we will make a lasting difference in the lives of others, showing them that “Something Can Be Done About It.”
