Scientology Disaster Response Specialists Graduation in Tanzania

Students at the Lord Baden Powell Memorial School in Dar es Salaam earn certificates from the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Africa Goodwill Tour.

A special graduation June 13^th at the Lord Baden Powell Memorial School in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, acknowledged students who completed Disaster Response Specialist Training through the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Africa Goodwill Tour.

The training, which included basic organizational and communication skills, was delivered by a team of Volunteer Ministers from South Africa who bring their mobile training center to countries throughout Africa. Training also covered basic Scientology Assists—technology developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that address the spiritual and emotional factors in stress and trauma.

School director Col. Kipingu Iddi Omari opened the ceremony and the students who completed the program received certificates and Volunteer Minister ID Cards identifying them as disaster response specialists.
Singer Grace Paul sang an original Swahili song based on the motto of the Volunteer Ministers, with Lord Baden Powell students joining in the chorus: “No matter the situation, something can be done about it.”
Volunteer Minister Goodwill Tour Leader Carl von Pfeil urged the students to use what they have learned to accomplish their goals: “You have learned simple truths: you can make yourself heard, you can learn anything, you can organize to accomplish what you set out to achieve. You can do something about it.”


News about the Scientology Volunteer Minister at Blog.VolunteerMinisters.Org!

SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS OF MEXICO COMPLETE SEARCH AND RESCUE TRAINING

A team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers returned to Mexico City this week after completing a rigorous course of training in disaster search and rescue in various locales around Mexico. The training was supervised by Los Topos, the renowned Mexican search and rescue team featured in a National Geographic documentary on the Japan tsunami of 2011, and other top professionals. The purpose: to leverage experience and expertise gained to direct the activities of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response in the worst possible disasters.

The Volunteer Ministers were inspired to participate in this month-long training program through their association with Los Topos. The alliance between the two groups began in Haiti, where they worked together to deal with the devastation after the January 2010 earthquake. Since then, Los Topos volunteers and executives have completed Volunteer Minister training at the National Church of Scientology of Mexico. And Los Topos carried out much of the training program the Volunteer Ministers have now completed.

But it was a personal experience in Colombia last year that brought home the urgency of carrying out a program like this.

“When we were in Colombia to help with the floods last year, I realized the importance of disaster prevention,” says Alejandro Del Llano, who directs the Scientology Volunteer Minister activities for Latin America. “We were evacuating buildings under the direction of CINAT—National Circle of Aide Technicians—the top disaster response team of Colombia and one of the best in Latin America. We found and evacuated an entire community of 6,000 residents, completing the operation just before a nearby mountain collapsed in a mudslide that buried the entire neighborhood. We saved thousands of lives. This experience brought home to us the urgency of gaining full competence in every possible disaster response skill.”

The Volunteer Ministers’ training began with a week-long hospital course in March 2012 in the classifying and handling of urgent medical situations. It included learning to recognize the levels of trauma and assessing priorities and the appropriate medical procedure to use for each. They trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), procedures for minor and major injuries, and the care of children, pregnant women and the elderly.

Next came training in civil protection for emergencies occurring inside buildings or other structures. This included organizing and executing evacuations, establishing safety zones and assessing the risks of a damaged building to those inside and the surrounding area.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers then completed a course in underwater search and rescue where they learned to dive in rivers and at sea under extreme conditions including frigid temperatures, strong currents, and low or no visibility.

“We had to dive into waters where you literally could not see anything,” says del Llano. “We overcame our natural fears and are proud of the competence we gained, which makes it possible to help others in ways we were never able to do before.”

With these skills learned, they trained in initial assessments of disaster sites, including immediate care of victims and damage control—how to prevent loss of lives by spotting and evacuating dangerous zones or buildings likely to collapse.

Training in search and rescue under collapsed structures came next. This included analyzing the condition of structures, learning to penetrate and advance inside and underneath buildings, and tracking and extracting victims.

In a private hospital under the supervision of the emergency medical technician in charge of civil protection, they learned CPR, rapid diagnosis of external injuries, and how to transport and remove injured persons from confined spaces such as cars and rooms.

Part way through their training, the volunteers were invited to deploy as part of the civil defense unit to serve when more than 3 million converged for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI in the city of Silao in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Del Llano knows there is more to learn, but the training completed gives the team the immediate expertise needed to contend with the situations most likely to be dangerous in disaster zones.

“We have immersed ourselves in a previously unknown world of professional disaster response,” he says. “Coupled with our knowledge of the technology contained in theScientology Handbook, we are now able to perform an important service in times of disaster.”

For more information, visit the Scientology Volunteer Ministers website.

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The Scientology Volunteer Minister program was initiated by Scientology FounderL. Ron Hubbard in 1976. There are now hundreds of thousands of people across 185 nations trained in the skills of a Volunteer Minister.

News about the Scientology Volunteer Minister at Blog.VolunteerMinisters.Org!

Those who survived the earthquake and tsunami in Northeast Japan last March face many challenges. One family of farmers needed help with their rice harvest.

A team of Volunteer Ministers pitched in to cut the rice and hang it on “rice walls” to dry.

Once dry, the plants will be threshed, which separates the grains of rice from their stalks.

After a day of hard work, the job was done, and the year’s rice harvest, which might otherwise have gone to waste, was salvaged.

News about the Scientology Volunteer Minister at Blog.VolunteerMinisters.Org!

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Japan Disaster Relief Continues

Nearly eight months since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Japan Disaster Response Team continues its work in the region.

Japan’s announcement today of plans to spend 19 trillion yen ($250 billion) over the next five years to rebuild after the March 2011 earthquake draws world attention back to the region. Northeast Japan where the magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 15,000, injured thousands more and destroyed more than 125,000 buildings across eighteen prefectures.

For the past eight months, teams of Scientology Volunteer Ministers have continued their work in the region, providing any assistance needed and bringing their own unique brand of help, based on the Scientology Handbook.

Case in point is Tagajo City in Miyago Prefecture, a town of 60,000 where 177 died and 1,811 were left homeless by the disaster. Scientology Volunteer Ministers have continued their work in the city. They visit those now living in temporary housing helping them with whatever they need, and providing Scientology Assists— simple techniques developed by L. Ron Hubbard that help the individual recover from stress, illness and injury. Wherever the go, they train staff and residents in the technology, so they can deliver Assists to one another.

One volunteer spoke of the experience.

“I spoke with a woman who told me about her childhood. She survived a tsunami when she was 4 years old. You could see how much better she felt because she was able to talk about it. The people I meet are very positive. They are strong and have the will to live. It is an honor to be able to help them.”

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The Scientology Volunteer Minister program was initiated by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1976. There are now hundreds of thousands of people trained in the skills of a Volunteer Minister across 185 nations.

News about the Scientology Volunteer Minister at Blog.VolunteerMinisters.Org!