PRESS RELEASES
Church of Scientology Activities
DAR ES SALAAM, 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 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.
FORT HARRISON, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA •
In celebration of Pinellas County’s centennial, Tampa Bay residents gathered at the Church of Scientology’s Fort Harrison on June 2nd for an Evening of Jazz, featuring jazz legend Chick Corea.
GARDEN RING, MOSCOW, RUSSIA •
At a round table at the Church of Scientology Moscow May 29 Church staff introduced legislators, community and civic leaders to the life and work of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard through the pages of a new 16-volume biographical encyclopedia.
LONDON, ENGLAND •
Visitors to London for the June 3 Thames Jubilee Pageant honoring the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee found hospitality, refreshments and respite from the driving rain and unseasonably cold temperatures at the daylong open house at the 146 Queen Victoria Street home of the Church of Scientology London.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA •
Bridge Publications, publisher of the religious works of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, has been awarded top honors in the Manufacturing Leadership 100 Awards of 2012.
HAITI •
Scientology Volunteer Minister Ayal Lindeman is carrying out his 6th humanitarian mission to Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake. Since arriving May 14, he has trained more than 1,100 community health personnel, families and first-responders in simple skills that save lives.
SOLOMON ISLANDS •
The Scientology Volunteer Ministers South Pacific Goodwill Tour has completed a series of seminars on Study Technology developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Delivering to teachers and students from 31 schools in Guadalcanal, the volunteers addressed education as the key issue to improve conditions for the island.
VITA LEVU, FIJI ISLANDS •
Scientology Volunteer Ministers, mobilized in the wake of recent floods, are providing relief and helping in the cleanup operation in Vita Levu, the main island of Fiji.
The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates the flooding of early April 2012, the worst in decades, caused $71.3 million in damage. And although the waters have receded, entire villages were submerged in floodwaters and the damage continues to impact the lives of thousands.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE •
The Church of Scientology & Celebrity Centre Nashville celebrated the third anniversary in its new home, a restored historical landmark at 8th Avenue South.
The Church of Scientology & Celebrity Centre Nashville held a festive celebration for parishioners and distinguished guests at the historic Fall School Building at 8th Avenue South, Nashville, which has served as its new home since its grand opening on April 25, 2009.
WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND •
Scientologists Run to Promote Drug-Free Living in England
A team of runners carried out a week-long 130-mile (209 km) multi-marathon through southern England to promote drug education and prevention as a primary solution to drug abuse.
The UK Drug-Free Multi-Marathon began April 14 on the steps of Lambeth Town Hall in the south of London. Over the next seven days they ran to East Grinstead in Sussex and on to Uckfield, Brighton, Crawley, Reigate and Croydon, ending back in Westminster in the heart of London.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA •
The Religion Communicators Council (RCC) honored the Church of Scientology with two DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards of Excellence at the Council’s 2012 convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
HONIARA, GUADALCANAL PROVINCE, SOLOMON ISLANDS •
The official launch of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour in Honiara, capital of Guadalcanal Province of the Solomon Islands, signals the launch of a month of free seminars on the 19 subjects of the Scientology Handbook.
KANANGA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO •
Thousands lined the streets and filled Stadium de L’Espoir (Stadium of Hope) in Kananga, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to welcome the team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers who arrived this week from Uganda, Québec and Brussels to implement Volunteer Minister training for 2,000 Congolese
LONDON, ENGLAND •
An open house at the Church of Scientology of London presented an overview of the Church’s work in support of human rights. Civic and religious leaders and representatives of nongovernmental organizations were also introduced to the human rights education initiative the Church sponsors.
Tracey Colman, Public Affairs Director of the Church, briefed those attending on human rights issues in London, including statistics on human trafficking and child abuse.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA •
In response to a request from the Guateng Provincial Police Social Crime Prevention Program, Shaleen Worhnitz, Director of Public Affairs of the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg, presented an overview of the human rights education initiative the Church sponsors.
MEXICO •
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.
SOLOMON ISLANDS •
The Savulei Paramount Council of Chiefs of the Solomon Islands endorsed the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program in March 2012 and welcomed the volunteers to the island in a traditional ceremony that dates back from the dawn of time.
Lambi is home to Paramount Chief Savulei whose authority extends over the 56 chiefs of the Savulei Council of Chiefs. So impressed was he by the results he saw in his village, he and his council officially endorsed the program and invited the Volunteer Ministers to return for a traditional welcoming ceremony.
AUSTRALIA •
The Church of Scientology in Australia conducts drug education activities to help the community.
LOS ANGELES •
The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International hosted a forum and fundraiser March 31 to increase awareness of human trafficking and its consequences in Southern California. Funds raised will go to support human rights education.
Virginia Isaias, whose Foundation of Survivors of Human Trafficking (Fundacion de Sobrevivientes de Trafico Humano) is a resource center to help those who have escaped or been rescued from slavery, urged survivors to speak up to raise awareness of the plight of trafficking victims.
SOLOMON ISLANDS •
Scientology Volunteer Ministers bring seminars to Solomon Islands schools.
The Scientology Volunteer Ministers have begun delivery of workshops to educators throughout the island of Guadalcanal at the request of the Chief Education Officer of the Guadalcanal Education Authority, following the success of training provided to executives and staff of that agency in Honiara, Capital of the Solomon Islands.