Ellen, Mexico - Is this really reality what we live in?

Is this really reality what we live in? The roads, the buses, cars, perfumes, restaurants... As I was walking through the duty free shops at the airport today I realized how fake the modern world seems to me now. Hunger is now real to me, thirst is more real, but not what new bag i'm going to buy, that doesn't seem to matter anymore. Its almost as if what my old reality was, is no longer existent in my mind.

This short time I've been back from Haiti, I still have my thoughts over there and I keep comparing life here, to life there. Frankly, there's nothing to compare. They have nothing and we have everything.  The cold hard truth that i got snapped into me is that my life here in the "real world" is so simple, easy and comfortable, i have running hot water, food in a refrigerator and clothes hung up in a closet, its almost shocking to me that I never really noticed those details before and it makes me sad to think i didn't appreciate them either. I feel so gratified to know i will have food tomorrow and a place to stay, and a mother to hug.

Erika, USA - "A motto to the VM Camp was 'Do anything and everything needed to get help to the people of Haiti'."

I went to Haiti with one of the Church of Scientology’s charter flights that came from Los Angeles via Miami and arrived in Haiti on 21 January 2010. Cindy was with us who just has recently done the VM courses recently and did a terrific job out there, mainly in the Future Orphanage. Paris drove us on his car, so when we got to Miami, Olaguer and I helped him to get all the communications equipment tested and wrapped up some set ups that had to be done before we could take the equipment with us.

So when I was in Haiti I helped with some aspects of communications and doing some things for Paris, typing and relaying communication. Computers were spare in the beginning so we had people hand write their messages when there was no computer available and I was typing it up later. I also helped to make ID badges for the VMs as we were required by the US Army as they were controlling the traffic in and out the Airport were our camp was.

Ayal, USA - Reporting on Video about his experiences!

Second part:

David, USA - Relieving medical personal from administration and logistics

(appeared on Scientology Today, 24 February 2010)

Scientology Volunteer Minister David Dempster, a Scotsman who has lived in Clearwater, Florida for the past four years, was on the first Scientology-sponsored charter flight to Haiti on January 16, departing from JFK Airport in New York.   The aircraft transported more than 100 doctors, nurses and EMTs (emergency medical technicians) to Haiti, and a team of Volunteer Ministers to support them in their work.  Five more flights sponsored by Scientologists have provided transport for over 600 medical and support personnel on donated planes from New York, Los Angeles and Miami.  Dempster, who provided urgently needed administrative backup to doctors at two Port-au-Prince hospitals, is back in Florida now, and reflects on his experiences there.

Julia, USA - The Disaster Relief Effort in Haiti is a global activity

I just got back from nine days in Haiti. People have asked me what it was like but truly it is so hard to put into words.

The Disaster Relief Effort in Haiti is a global activity. There are people and organizations from all over the world working side by side to save the people of Haiti - volunteers, doctors, nurses, military and religious people. It didn’t matter who you were or where you came from before you got to Haiti, while in Haiti you were part of a united team.

Elena, Switzerland/USA - Night shift at the HUEH

“There was an old lady who was so thin you could count her bones. She had probably not been doing well before the earthquake, and although there was really nothing wrong with her medically, the doctor decided to keep her in the hospital, concerned she would die if he discharged her.  She was lying in bed, eyes shut, not eating or reacting to anything at all.  I held her and fed her—tiny pieces of food, piece by piece, hoping it would make a difference.

When I came back the next day, the first thing I saw was this woman, sitting up in her bed, eyes wide open.  I smiled at her, she smiled back.  Well on the road to recovery.”

“One night as we waited at the hospital for the bus to bring us back to our camp, two men drove up on a motorcycle balancing an unconscious boy between them.  They let him down at our feet saying  ‘do what you can for him,’ and drove off.  He appeared to be about 10 years old.  He was barely breathing.  We raced off to get the help of a doctor, who set the child up with an IV.  I was holding the boy when he suddenly opened his eyes and gave me a big smile—very much alive. Another casualty who made it.”

Elena recently returned home to the United States from Haiti and only two days later she went off again to Haiti, on her next project: help building an orphanage. 

Working with the Volunteer Ministers: Haiti 2010

Shortly after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, my attention was drawn to Haiti and their people. I knew I was going to Haiti! I just did not know how? I visited my neighbors who are actively involved in the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida. We discussed the earthquake disaster and I shared with them that I would really love to go help the people of Haiti. My neighbors picked up the phone, called someone they knew that was organizing the volunteers for the Haiti relief program out of Tampa. Judy Fagerman, who worked in Tampa called me immediately, and before I knew it I was enrolled in a couple of courses required by Scientology to participate as a Volunteer Minister.

Karen, USA - Midwife experiences - helping to give birth in complete darkness

A Story from the Official Volunteer Ministers Blog

Karen Farrell is a midwife and a Scientology Volunteer Minister who lives in New England. When she heard about the Haiti earthquake on January 12, her first thought was that she needed to help. Four days later she was in Port-au-Prince with the medical and disaster relief team of doctors and nurses from the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad, paramedics and Volunteer Ministers who boarded a flight in New York on January 16, chartered by the Church of Scientology to take medical personnel and supplies to Haiti.

Karen was assigned to General Hospital, where the facilities were woefully inadequate for the doctors and nurses working desperately to do something for the worst of the enormous numbers of earthquake victims. Overwhelmed with casualties, the medical staff could scarcely tend to women having babies. The Norwegian Red Cross had set up a small makeshift obstetric and surgical unit and welcomed the midwife and doctors newly arrived from America.

Darrell, USA - It was disaster beyond belief.

Upon arriving in Haiti two weeks ago I had no idea what to expect. It was disaster beyond belief. Being a medical professional I was assigned to General Hospital on the night shift and assumed there would be support. However the hospital personnel had been traumatized and would not show up inside the building, so my partner, an extremely competent EMT and Nurse, and I tackled the Critical Care Unit with no supplies, very unsanitary conditions, too many patients and very little time. I hate night shift since I left the military, however, the need took precedence. I can't believe that I did not get tired or hungry.

The first week we got about two to four hours sleep a night (day). Gradually the conditions improved with the untiring effort of my friend and Scientology Volunteer Minister Ayal, and when we showed up on the floor the patients would smile, because they knew they were genuinely being cared for by concerned people. When we finished there were supplies, the floors cleaned, the dead body smell was gone and I felt we had done a very worthwhile deed. Our hours were extremely long and several nights we were without lights. Even though the schedule caught up with my body, I would do it again in a minute.