Volunteer Ministers and the Help They Provide

The former US Coast Guard ship "Hornbeam" at its arrival in Miami on 20 March 2010.

22/23 March 2010: Update on the Hornbeam: Monday afternoon in Miami final preparations for the 1,500- mile trip of the former US Coast Guard Ship were done. Several Scientology Volunteer Ministers helped to load over 170 tons of supplies, including wood-burning stoves donated by the charity of wife of the Haitian Ambassador to the U.S. Tomorrow an ambulance and a school bus will be loaded on board and the ship will be tugged out to open sea and leave for Haiti.

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On arriving in Haiti later this week all supplies will be distributed to hospitals, schools, orphanages and charities. The ship, the Hornbeam, will be tugged up the Miami River and out to open sea on Wednesday, March 24. The ship also brings Scientology Volunteer Ministers to join the Scientology Disaster Relief team, which has been in Port-au-Prince providing relief since January.

This past week the first Volunteer Minister teams from Mexico, Russia and the United Kingdom arrived and replaced some of the American volunteer units who had been there for the last three weeks.

In total more than 12,200 people were reached with help this week, including 4,674 served with food and water, and care given to about 2,300 injured people. Several examples follow.

Remote Areas

A team of 7 people (2 Doctors and 5 Scientology Volunteer Ministers) went out several times this week visiting outlying refugee camps in a very torn down neighborhood where people are living in broken houses.

Second unit is making food and supply runs. After receiving a distress call from a local pastor who had told the Volunteers that there were people starving in his community set up a makeshift primary care station and delivered food and water to his camp. The station was been set up outside due to buildings being so unstable. Primary care was given to 70 patients and 96 hot meals, 2 boxes of rice, 100 granola bars, 20 cans of tuna, (enough to feed 200 people) and 4 cases of water were provided. The locals also supplied a list of other areas that desperately needed food and these are being visited in the coming week.

Another Volunteer unit delivered medical assistance to several tent cities outside Port-au-Prince to 495 people. They handed out baby wipes, baby food, powdered milk, vitamins, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and facemasks and delivered a seminar on hygiene.

On Wednesday the Volunteers unit delivering medical supplies went with a Trauma Doctor and Trauma Registered Nurse out "into the trenches." On this project several dozen injured people were located and given proper medical assistance.

The Volunteers helped fly 4 plane loads of medical supplies (approximately 200lbs) to Jacmel in south Haiti and provided them to local doctors that that had been cut off medical supply and support lines. They also helped organize distribution logistics for future deliveries. 30 boxes of MREs (360 Meals Ready to Eat) plus one pallet of rice (enough for 540 people) were deliverd to a nearby community and several kitchens rebuilt to service about 1,000 people.

Hospital installations:

SWISS HOSPITAL TENT: A sanitation team that came in with one of the Volunteer Ministers charter flights has taken on trash clean-up around the hospital. They also organized the draining of a waste-filled pond right next to the hospital tents.

GENERAL HOSPITAL, PORT-AU-PRINCE: A team of Volunteers continued to help distributing food and water to the patients daily and organized the receipt and distribution of needed supplies.

MIAMI UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL TENT: The Volunteer Ministers worked the food distribution lines and continued to put order in the medical storage. They also got local Haitians on board to arrange food deliveries to nearby camps and brought 13 large boxes of food into different communities.

CAMPS IN PORT-AU-PRINCE: For several weeks now Scientology Volunteer Ministers have been arranging food and other supplies for hundreds of children in Port-au-Prince. The Volunteer Ministers continue to feed and care for the children, while professional Haitian orphanage administrators are working to find parents or other relatives. In the past week over a ton of food, water and medical supplies were gotten out to three children camps and several new tents were installed. A van full of school supplies including proper clothing for the kids arrived from Dominican Republic as organized by the Volunteer Minister unit there.

For several weeks Scientology Volunteer Ministers have been arranging food and other supplies for dozens of children in Port-au-Prince. The Volunteer Ministers continue to feed and care for the children, while professional Haitian orphanage administrators are working to find parents or other relatives.

Receipt of donated shelter boxes (tents).

Volunteer Ministers in Haiti provide any assistance needed and to date have helped more than 41,000 people.

Volunteer Minister vans and rented vehicles bring food and supplies to tent cities and refugee camps in southern Haiti.

A typical "tent city" in Haiti's country side where refugees gather.