Indonesia, 2005: A Scientology Volunteer Minister in Indonesia carries a child out of the wreckage of the tsunami.
India, 2005: Providing Volunteer Ministers training in India after the 2004 tsunami.
Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 2005: Scientology Volunteer Ministers trained Muslim clerics and local officials in Banda Aceh who went on to help thousands of people in their communities.
New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005: More than 900 Scientology Volunteer Ministers from throughout the U.S. and abroad traveled to the Gulf Coast to help provide relief after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Louisiana, 2005: Scientologists remained in the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita where storm damage was so widespread, local residents needed help with cleanup and construction.
With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 we look back at the work of the Volunteer Minister over the past decade. The Scientology Volunteer Ministers who served at Ground Zero in the months following 9/11 inspired those who responded to these and other devastating disasters in 2005 and 2006.
2005
- In 2005, as the New Year began, teams of Scientology Volunteer Ministers from 26 nations were already in place or en route to Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India to provide relief. An earthquake on December 26, 2004 had unleashed the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. For months, Volunteer Ministers provided any service needed, from search and rescue and identifying the dead to providing food and other supplies to those left homeless. By training thousands in Scientology disaster response technology, from police and military officers to Buddhist monks and Muslim clerics, they extended help to hundreds of thousands and established Volunteer Ministers groups throughout the region to continue to provide help.
- In August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina slammed into the United States Gulf Coast, more than 900 Volunteer Ministers responded, assisting police, military and other first responders. They manned shelters, provided childcare, helped displaced persons locate loved ones and cleaned up and helped with the reconstruction of homes and neighborhoods in towns and cities in Louisiana and Mississippi.
- Volunteer Ministers aided the victims of Hurricanes Stan in Guatemala and Wilma in Florida and, helped in Kentucky after tornadoes struck.
2006
- In Mozambique, Volunteer Ministers worked with UNICEF and the Mozambique military to provide relief. They left behind a 70-man team they trained in Scientology assists technology.
- VMs were also on hand to provide relief from mudslides in the Philippines.
- When Cyclone Larry hit Australia, teams of VMs were there. Volunteer Ministers also helped in the wake of a 7.8 earthquakes and tsunami in Java, and following a typhoon in the Philippines. They assisted firefighters battling bushfires in Victoria, Australia, and helped victims of tornadoes in Tennessee.
