In Spain, a Scientology Initiative  Helps Communities Stay Well

Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Spain launch their Stay Well Campaign as the country gets ready to welcome visitors from across Europe.

Based on the principle that an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure, 135 Volunteer Ministers from Scientology Churches and Missions across Spain distributed 74,000 copies of educational booklets in their neighborhoods. Their purpose: to help their communities stay well.

The booklets—How to Keep Yourself & Others Well, How to Protect Yourself & Others with a Mask & Gloves and How to Prevent the Spread of Illness with Isolation—help people understand the basics of prevention so they do their part to keep themselves and others well.

With Spain’s borders opening to visitors June 21, the government has issued protocols to ensure vacationers can enjoy a healthy stay in the country this summer. By understanding prevention, everyone can do their part to ensure this comes off without a problem. 

One volunteer recalled that wearing a face mask and terms like “social distancing” were foreign concepts just a few months ago, but adopting these measures helped bring the outbreak under control. Several Volunteer Ministers commented that when store managers looked through the booklets, they saw how important it was to share this information with their customers.

“We would walk into a store and be greeted with a big smile,” said one volunteer. “Store owners would ask for additional copies. One manager told us he noticed people are still worried about the pandemic and he saw that by handing these out he can help them feel calm and protect themselves.” 

During the lockdown, Volunteer Ministers provided face masks, gloves and hot meals to health care workers at the Hospital Universitario Santa Cristina and donated thousands of bottles of sanitizer to local hospitals, police, and first responders. 

They also promoted the How to Stay Well Prevention Center, available in Spanish and 19 other languages on the Scientology website, which makes prevention materials available free of charge. The booklets can be read on the website or downloaded. More than a dozen brief videos illustrate the key information, making it easy to understand what a virus is, how it spreads, and the actions anyone can take to protect themselves and their families.  

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Worldwide distribution of these booklets began in May around every Scientology Churches and Missions across the globe. The Church of Scientology International Dissemination and Distribution Center made this possible by printing and shipping 5 million copies of Stay Well booklets. 

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. It constitutes one of the largest and most visible international independent relief forces. The Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.”