A Helping Hand in Time of Need

Scientology Volunteer Ministers disaster specialists join local volunteers in Papua New Guinnea to help villages recover from a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.

A grassroots initiative is helping sooth the anxiety and stress of those coping in the wake of last month’s 7.5 magnitude Papua New Guinea earthquake. Scientology Volunteer Ministers (VMs) are bringing immediate relief to those living in care centers while they carry out assessments of the food and water supplies and any medical or sanitation situations for local authorities.

The United Nations estimates some 270,000 Papua New Guineans have yet to receive urgent humanitarian care. In addition to their physical needs, UNICEF Representative for PNG Karen Allen is concerned about the fear, loss and confusion the children have experienced since the February 26 quake.

More than 140 significant aftershocks have rocked the island, providing a constant reminder of danger. So the VMs begin by teaching them “The Triangle of Life”—a survival technique of particular value in developing countries where inadequate or nonexistent building codes make finding a “survivable void” inside collapsed buildings more important than shielding yourself from falling debris.

Next, they use a Scientology process to help them overcome their fear of the dangerous environment.

“Usually at this point, the entire group is super relaxed and happy and we answer any further questions and leave it at that,” said one of the Volunteer Ministers. But after they delivered this process in one center, a man came up to him and ask for more information. The man really wanted to learn how to deliver this process, so he could help his wife and family. The Volunteer Minister gave him a booklet describing these techniques, all of which are also available through a free online course on the Volunteer Ministers website.

It is remarkable how quickly people rebound with the application of a few simple Volunteer Minister tools, the VM noted.

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Minister program is a religious social service created in the mid 1970s by L. Ron Hubbard. Anyone of any culture or creed may train as a Volunteer Minister and use these tools to help their families and communities. The Church provides free online training on the Volunteer Ministers website.

In creating the Volunteer Ministers program, L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “If one does not like the crime, cruelty, injustice and violence of this society, he can do something about it. He can become a Volunteer Minister and help civilize it, bring it conscience and kindness and love and freedom from travail by instilling into it trust, decency, honesty and tolerance.”