PRESS RELEASES
CHENNAI, INDIA •
The first annual South Asia Regional Human Rights Summit has launched teams of young human rights advocates back to their homes in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka empowered with the knowledge and resources to raise awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
MITCHELLEVILLE, MARYLAND •
A corps of leaders committed to empowering the community and providing opportunity to at-risk youth learned of a program that can keep kids off drugs.
Community leaders, officials and mentors at the fourth annual Community Day Breakfast of the Maryland-based nonprofit Men Aiming Higher came away from the February 16 event with tools to fight teen drug abuse.
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA •
More than 4,500 Scientologists from 40 nations gathered for the annual gala celebration of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday (March 13) held in Clearwater, Florida, home to the Church of Scientology’s spiritual headquarters. The weekend of events commemorated Mr. Hubbard’s enduring legacy in an era of unprecedented growth for the religion.
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA •
The 10th annual Youth for Human Rights International World Educational Tour returns to Russia.
St. Petersburg, Russia, hosted the fourth stage of the 10th annual Youth for Human Rights International World Educational Tour February 20-25, 2013. The Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) team, led by the group’s president Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, held meetings with leaders in education and human rights and assisted with the filming of a new human rights video, We Have Rights No Matter Who We Are.
NEPAL •
In the brochure released in March 2013, the Church of Scientology features the work of an educator from Nepal who increased passing averages from 30 percent to 80 percent by implementing the technology of study developed by L. Ron Hubbard.
WASHINGTON, D.C. •
Circling the globe by bike in the name of a drug-free world
The Church of Scientology National Affairs Office in Washington, D.C., hosted two Russian athletes February 11 who are raising awareness of the need for drug education. The cyclists, Alen Khairullin, 26, and Pavel Grachev, 47, have already cycled for 4,660 miles and are circling the globe by bicycle.
JAMAICA •
David Chen returned to visit his native Jamaica from London in February 2013 with a burning desire to empower his countrymen by educating them on the importance of preserving and protecting human rights. Chen arrived to join the 10th annual Youth for Human Rights International World Educational Tour.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND •
As home to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, is a fitting venue for the 10th Annual Youth for Human Rights International World Educational Tour.
For a week in mid February, Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, President of Youth for Human Rights International, and volunteers of the Youth for Human Rights Geneva chapter held a series of meetings with staff of various diplomatic missions to the United Nations and representatives of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Office’s Palais Wilson headquarters.
TOKYO, JAPAN •
75 percent of Japanese schoolchildren oppose use or possession of quasi-legal drugs
A poll conducted and released February 19 by Japanese news agency Kyodo Tsushin reported more than 75 percent of Japanese junior high school and high school students feel possession or use of “dappo habu” (quasi-legal drugs) is bad, while the remaining students think there is nothing wrong with possession or possession and use of these substances as long as they are not banned.
ULAN BATOR, MONGOLIA •
A new brochure, Scientology: How We Help—Achieving Literacy and Education, describes a worldwide movement to revert the educational decline through the technology of study.
The brochure Scientology, How We Help: Applied Scholastics, Achieving Literacy and Education, was released in March 2013, to describe the tools to make quality education available anywhere, as a recent project in Mongolia illustrates.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE •
In honor of Black History Month, the Church of Scientology Nashville hosted a program on the roll of Black athletes from the early years of basketball, and launched a new community initiative—City Hoops—aimed at engaging youth through sports.
The Church of Scientology of Nashville and the Black Legends of Professional Basketball Foundation co-organized a Black History Month program to honor African American athletes of the 1950s and to launch a new citywide sports initiative—“City Hoops.”
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC •
Helping to raise standards of education and literacy throughout the Czech Republic through Study Technology
Released March 2013, the brochure Scientology, How We Help: Applied Scholastics, Achieving Literacy and Education features the Czech Republic, where the Ministry of Education has officially accredited The Basic Study Manual, a text published by Applied Scholastics International, for use in teacher training.
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI •
The Church of Scientology spotlights Applied Scholastics in a new publication. Applied Scholastics provides tools to reverse declining educational trends through the technology of study developed by L. Ron Hubbard.
In March 2013 the Church of Scientology released a new brochure—Scientology, How We Help: Applied Scholastics, Achieving Literacy and Education.
Illiteracy costs government, business and taxpayers trillions of dollars and the cost in human terms is incalculable.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA •
In Argentina and in countries around the world, volunteers from Scientology Churches use The Truth About Drugs program to educate youth so they can make informed decisions not to take drugs.
February is summertime in Argentina, and volunteers from the Church of Scientology of Buenos Aires are out on the street, letting youth know the truth about drugs.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM •
Belgian Scientologists promote human rights awareness on the 64th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA •
The Right to Education was the focus of a fundraiser hosted by the Church of Scientology January 13 at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida.
The Church of Scientology hosted a benefit concert on behalf of Men of Vision, an organization of some 100 young men in the Hillsborough County school system grades 6-12.
LONDON, ENGLAND •
The Jive Aces, UK’s number one Jive and Swing Band, are leading proponents of The Truth About Drugs—the drug education program supported by the Church of Scientology.
The Jive Aces were recently featured in the London Evening Standard as the cure for the blues.
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA •
Volunteers from the Church of Scientology of St. Petersburg bring the truth about drugs to the youth of the city.
Each month, Truth About Drugs volunteers of the Church of Scientology of St. Petersburg conduct lectures in schools, hold scores of street events and distribute thousands of booklets and flyers to reach the youth of their city with factual information about drugs.
PRETORIA, GAUTENG •
On Saturday, February 23, more than a thousand Scientologists and their guests assembled to celebrate the opening of the new Church of Scientology Pretoria. National, provincial and city dignitaries as well as South African royalty joined Church officials for the dedication ceremony.
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS •
Merel Remmerswaal is determined that all Dutch youth learn the truth about drugs.