Veteran First Responder Ayal Lindeman and Marion Whitta (second and third from left) head up the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Yolanda (Haiyan) Disaster Response.

Veteran first responder Ayal Lindeman from the United States arrived in the Philippines and was joined by the leader of the Volunteer Ministers India Goodwill Tour, Marion Whitta, who will lead the disaster response team comprised of local Scientology Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Manila and those arrived or en route from many countries including the U.S., Australia, Japan and Taiwan.

Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda) made landfall November 8, the worst storm ever to have hit the central Philippines. An estimated 10,000 are dead, 500,000 evacuated and 10 million affected.

This is Lindeman’s second trip to the Philippines in under a year.  He was there in January 2013 to help the country recover from Typhoon Bopha.

He is conducting an on-the-ground assessment in Manila, and coordinating Volunteer Minister activities with governmental and military contacts he worked with last year to when he was in the Philippines to provide disaster response for Typhoon Bopha.