Haiti Earthquake

The Church of Scientology International Volunteer Ministers' new headquarters in Pétionville, Haiti

Pétionville, Haiti—The Church of Scientology International Volunteer Ministers opened a new headquarters Saturday, signaling a new level of commitment to the people of Haiti in rebuilding their country.   Located just east of Port-au-Prince, the new headquarters will facilitate the staging and coordination of operations, and provide temporary housing for volunteers from outside Haiti.

Since the disaster hit Haiti on 12 January 2010 over 300 Scientology Volunteer Ministers from 22 countries got active and continue to help the Haitian population - every day.

    In the first week following the Haiti earthquake the Church of Scientology Volunteer Minister corps has mobilized and safely transported more than 350 rescue and medical professionals and Volunteer Ministers to Haiti. Donations for about 40 tons of food and medicine were raised and the supplies were brought into Haiti for distribution, in coordination with the United Nations. Within ten days over 100 Volunteer Ministers were working in Haiti.

The Volunteer Ministers began unloading the ship April 30 at 11 am and carried on till noon the following day.

The "Lifeboat for Haiti" arrived in Port-au-Prince in April 2010, loaded with tons of supplies--everything from MREs (meals ready to eat) to crutches, medicine, cooking-stoves and an ambulance.  All the supplies were donated by charities and everything is being distributed to charities in Haiti including schools, orphanages, hospitals and clinics. The Scientology Volunteer Ministers in the USA and Haiti who had organized the ship and more than 100 tons of donations welcomed the ship at a private dock in Haiti.

“This award is their award,” Reyher said, announcing that her office is presenting all 1,000 volunteers with copies of the Letter of Commendation.

Marking National Volunteer Week, Scientology Church praises 1,000 volunteers for more than 150,000 hours in Haiti relief effort

Richard Girard, second from the left in yellow, talks with members of a relief team in Haiti last month. Girard went to the island nation as part of a six-week Church of Scientology relief mission. (Submitted photo)

By Ryan Hutton, North Adams Transcript Tuesday April 20, 2010

ADAMS—After spending six weeks in Haiti, Adams resident Richard Girard is back in the Berkshires with tales of his trip.

Scientology Volunteer Minister, nurse and EMT Ayal Lindeman at Port-au-Prince General Hospital in March 2010 with Benitha, whose life he and a Haitian physician saved.

It was January 2010, a week and a half after the 7.0 earthquake hit Port-au-Prince.  Benitha, a dying Haitian woman in a ward at General Hospital, called out for help—to no one, to everyone.  Earlier that day, attempts to help her failed because they didn’t have the needed equipment or medications.  Medical staff were stretched far beyond their ability to cope—with a handful of doctors covering the entire compound and hundreds and hundreds of patients in urgent need of care, there was nothing more they could do for Benitha.  The woman was literally drowning in her own fl

The Hornbeam at the dock in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The "Lifeboat for Haiti" arrived in Port-au-Prince today.  It is loaded with tons of supplies--everything from MREs (meals ready to eat) to crutches, medicine, cooking-stoves and an ambulance.  All the supplies were donated by charities and everything is being distributed to charities in Haiti including schools, orphanages, hospitals and clinics. 

The entire team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers will be unloading and distributing the supplies tomorrow.

A Volunteer Minister training a Haitian police officer in communication skills.

With the immediate medical emergency over, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers have expanded their delivery of other services. They are concentrating on training the people of Haiti in simple tools to improve conditions in life.

Over the past few weeks Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Haiti have trained more than 8,000 Haitians.

In founding the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program, L. Ron Hubbard published an article called “Religious Influence in Society,” in which he wrote: