Since arriving in Gizo in the Solomon Islands last week the Scientology Disaster Relief Team has been hard at work helping the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the island, but short on staff and funds, they have put out an urgent appeal for donations and volunteers to keep their relief effort going.
 | One of the Volunteer Ministers on the Scientology Disaster Relief Team in Gizo. They are very short-handed and need more volunteers and donations to help them continue their relief effort. |
The team, comprised of experienced trauma relief experts who were pivotal components in the successful emergency relief efforts in most of the Pacific area disasters over the past three years, are providing training and one-on-one help to reach as many people as possible, as fast they can.
It can take months to recover from the kind of shock the people of Gizo experienced when the 5-meter-high (15 foot) wall of water crashed into their island destroying homes and schools, and washing away bridges, roads and whole villages. But with the use of Scientology assist technology, it is not unusual for a team of Volunteer Ministers to help an entire village recover from this kind of shock in a matter of a few hours.
Scientology assists are procedures developed by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion. They are enormously effective in times of disaster as they address the emotional and spiritual side of the trauma, helping people quickly recover from the immediate effects of stress or shock.
One of the local tribal chiefs was astonished to see how quickly assists transformed the outlook of his villagers, and asked the Volunteer Ministers (VMs) to train all his people so they could help each other. As soon as the VMs finished their training session in basic assist techniques, the chief himself took over supervising the assist delivery to make sure that all the people in his village got the help they needed.
 | Tribal chief (in white) supervises the villagers in their use of Scientology assist techniques, after the training seminar delivered by the Scientology Disaster Relief Team. |
The Gizo Disaster Relief Team is composed of Volunteer Ministers who were part of the 2004 tsunami Banda Aceh relief effort and volunteered this year to bring help to the victims of the Yogyakarta earthquake, Philippines cyclone and Jakarta floods. But as experienced as they are, they are very short-handed and are supported on the ground entirely by donations.
Anyone who can volunteer their time is welcomed to join their team and will be trained. And donations to support the relief effort are critical, with more than 5,000 people still homeless and many thousands on seven islands affected by the tsunami. To help, visit the Volunteer Ministers web site at www.volunteerministers.org where you can sign up to volunteer, or donate funds to keep the team going.
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