Training for Disaster Response in Colombia

The coordinator of Latin America Volunteer Ministers activities, himself a veteran of the Scientology Haiti relief effort, is in Colombia from his headquarters office in Mexico City to train and man a Scientology Disaster Response Team to provide relief in the wake of flooding in and around the northern coastal city of Cartagena, which has disrupted the lives of more than 94,000 Colombians, according to the Colombian Red Cross. Additionally, in Manizales, 100 miles west of Bogotá, 150 families were evacuated this week because of landslides.

Volunteer Ministers seminars were held this week at the Centro Cultural de Dianética in Bogotá to train volunteers to assists in these and other disasters.

To join the Colombia disaster response, fill out the disaster response form at the Scientology Volunteer Ministers website.

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^{No matter how bad it is, Something CAN Be Done About It!Learn how with the Scientology Handbook based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard}

Communication -- the Magic Element

When I need a bit of magic in my life I look back over L. Ron Hubbard's tech on Communication. What's really interesting to me is how important communication is in human relations. Just by studying the chapter on Communication in the Scientology Handbook I figure about half the problems people are knocking themselves out over would resolve. (Of course it would ruin most soap operas and a lot of feature length movies whose plots revolve around communication breakdowns).

Couple of years back, David Miscavige announced that free courses on the chapters of this book would be available on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers website and they are. I often send people to that site to get help.

******************************************************* ^{No matter how bad it is, Something CAN Be Done About It!Learn how with the Scientology Handbook based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard}

Kenya Scout leaders use Scientology Volunteer Ministers methods to help in the wake of Uganda mudslides

Kenya Scouts who trained as Scientology Volunteer Ministers helped in the search and rescue action following mudslides in the Bududa District of Uganda.

UGANDA—A team of Kenya Scouts who are also Scientology Volunteer Ministers traveled to Uganda last month when massive mudslides killed 94 and displaced 30,000 from their homes. Led by Elly Rajab, 22, the Scouts joined Uganda Army rescue workers in their search for 500 people missing in the flood-affected area.

Arriving in Uganda from Nairobi, Rajab and his team learned from survivors in IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps and from the Red Cross and the Uganda Army where their help was most needed. With hundreds still missing, the first priority was search and rescue—work that had to be done by hand with shovels and picks, as use of heavy machinery could trigger further landslides on the heavily saturated ground.

The Volunteer Ministers also distributed food and supplies and provided simple but powerful Scientology techniques, called “assists,” developed by L. Ron Hubbard to help people in the camps overcome the disorientation and trauma of losing their homes, families and possessions.

In Nairobi, the previous year Rajab had trained as a Scientology Volunteer Minister to gain practical skills that he and his fellow Scout leaders could use to help the people of their country. After completing free online training in communication skills, conflict resolution, organizational basics and other subjects offered at www.volunteerministers.org, in fall 2009 Rajab arranged for Kenya Scout leaders from Mombasa, Marsabit, Kisumu and Nakuru to join him in Nairobi for a series of seminars provided by a Volunteer Minister sent from United States to Kenya. Since the seminars, the Scout leaders have in turn trained hundreds more Scouts in their own regions in Scientology Volunteer Minister technology.

For more information on Scientology Volunteer Ministers disaster response, visit blog.volunteerministers.org. To enroll on the free online courses, visit the Volunteer Ministers website.

******************************************************* ^{No matter how bad it is, Something CAN Be Done About It!Learn how with the Scientology Handbook based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard}

Haiti Relief blog: personal accounts of Scientology Volunteers that were in Haiti

Scientology Volunteer Ministers come from all walks of life but what unifies them is their purpose to help. Fascinating personal accounts of Haiti Volunteers can be found in many places but we'd like to recommend a few.

http://haitiscientologyvolunteers.blogspot.com/

http://www.ellenthevm.blogspot.com/

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^{No matter how bad it is, Something CAN Be Done About It!
Learn how with the Scientology Handbook based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard}

Australia: Scientology Volunteer Ministers Help Village of Pangaimotu

Scientology Volunteer Ministers from Australia delivered a workshop to the village of Pangaimotu in the Kingdom of Tonga.

When the Scientology Volunteer Ministers South Pacific Goodwill tour moved their operation to the island of Vava’u last month, residents of the village of Pangaimotu heard about the volunteers from Australia through radio and TV broadcasts and invited them to come to their island to deliver a workshop.

Pangaimotu is the name of a village and an island a half hour by boat from the capital of the Vava’u district of Tonga. The Town Officer welcomed the Scientologists to the village and found them a hall in a local church where they could deliver their workshop. Then he brought them to visit each of the 185 houses in the village to invite every family to attend.

While walking through the village, one of the couples they met thanked the Scientologists for helping them through a very rough period in their lives. The volunteers were surprised and the couple explained that a short while earlier, they had picked up some of the Volunteer Minister booklets when the Goodwill Tour was in Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga. Then, when trouble struck, the couple had the solutions they needed, to pull them through the crises they experienced.

Just as the Scientologists were about to begin presenting the workshop, a baby in the audience began to cry. The Scientology Volunteer Ministers showed those attending a simple technique anyone can use to help someone calm down. L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Scientology religion, developed a body of technology called Scientology “Assists.” An assist is a Scientology process that alleviates present time discomforts or difficulties. The particular assist the Scientology Volunteer Ministers demonstrated is called a “Locational Assist.” Easy to learn and do, a locational is done by directing a person’s attention off the painful area of his body or his difficulties and out onto the environment. When the parents used it, the child immediately stopped crying and became cheerful again.

Carrying on with the agenda they had planned, the Scientologists then covered techniques to improve the ability to learn, communicate and resolve conflicts.

Having attended the workshop, the people of the village of Pangaimotu understand why the motto of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers is “Something CAN be done about it”, and they now have tools they can use to improve their lives.

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^{No matter how bad it is, Something CAN Be Done About It!
Learn how with the Scientology Handbook based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard}

Scientology Volunteers Help Cope with Record Flooding

The Scientology Disaster Relief Team is on site with emergency workers and flood victims helping bring order and relief in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.

Southern Taiwan is experiencing its worst flooding in 25 years from Typhoon Morakot and Scientology Volunteer Ministers are helping with urgent services and care of flood victims.

The Volunteers relief efforts are concentrated on getting food to the victims, as well as providing support to emergency services personnel and trauma relief. When officials coordinating the relief effort requested food as the first priority, the Scientologists immediately arranged for 3,000 loaves of bread to be brought to emergency shelters.

In the regions of Bu-Dai and Dun-Shi, the Volunteer Team also provided and taught Scientology Assists—simple procedures developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, that help overcome the emotional and spiritual side of trauma that accompany injury, stress or shock.
Emergency workers also receive Assists to help them remain alert and effective through lack of sleep and extreme stress.

In Chai-Tung, one of the worst hit flood areas, Scientologists and other volunteer groups are serving 200 victims at an evacuation center and a vocation school, while anticipating the arrival of another thousand refugees.

For further information on the Volunteer Ministers and their work, go to VolunteerMinisters.org.

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^{No matter how bad it is, Something CAN Be Done About It!
Learn how with the Scientology Handbook based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard}