Church of Scientology Sponsored Group in Markham, Canada Fights Drugs
A Scientology-sponsored youth group rallied local community and civic leaders to back drug education and prevention in commemoration of last week’s United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The campaign message this year, from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), was “Do drugs control your life? Your life. Your community. No place for drugs.” The slogan conveys the concept that drugs concern everyone as their use harms individuals, families and society at large.
The Drug-Free Marshals is an international grass-roots drug education and prevention program. The Church of Scientology of Toronto sponsors a chapter, membership of which is open to all children who want to be drug-free.
To get across the UN’s anti-drug message, the youngsters worked with local officials who are committed to handling the drug problem in their area.
They contacted the Markham Town Council, which unanimously proclaimed June 26th as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in the Town of Markham. The Mayor presented the Drug-Free Marshals with the proclamation at the Taste of Asia Festival, where Drug-Free Marshal, Sophie Pateropoulos, led all those attending in a pledge to be drug-free.
Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “Save the child and you save the nation,” and the Church of Scientology of Toronto, committed to saving kids from the tragedy of drug abuse and addiction, has been active in drug education and prevention for more than 2 decades.
For more information on what the Church of Scientology is doing to counter drug-abuse and promote drug-free living visit the web site of the Church of Scientology of Toronto or the Scientology video channel.
Sequel: Two Scientology Volunteer Ministers exploring the slums in India
I nicked this story from ScientologyToday.org. It’s a sequel to my earlier post about Nick and Erin.
Young Scientology Volunteer Ministers in India use Volunteer Minister website to download emergency information
Young Scientology Volunteer Ministers, Nick and Erin, spent several weeks in India this year to help teach kids in the slums of Kolkata. Living right in the heart of the city, Erin came down with a bad stomach bug. Even though it is very common for those traveling in India to get sick, illnesses like this can be severe and Erin was suffering from acute dehydration.
“She couldn’t keep down any food,” said Nick. “We called a doctor first and he gave her the medicine she needed but it wasn’t kicking in. So I knew I had to give her a Scientology Assist.”
Scientology Assists are techniques, developed by L. Ron Hubbard, that give people relief when they are suffering from an illness or injury. Done in conjunction with medical treatment, assists can greatly speed healing and recovery time.
“I couldn’t remember how to do one particular Assist, but fortunately we had Internet access,” said Nick. “India’s bizarre like that, we had no hot water but we had Internet access!” said Erin.
“So I went onto the Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site,” continued Nick, “found the booklet called ‘Assists for Illnesses and Injuries’, and I downloaded it—straight to the desktop on my laptop! I opened it and started the Assist. Erin’s fever dropped, and she stopped throwing up. I did the Assist two more times in the early morning and the next day she was recovering. I had actually forgotten that these booklets were available online, and was cursing myself for not having my own copy with me. Then I remembered the new website!” he said.
The Scientology Volunteer Minister site provides tools for improving conditions. Free courses are also available through the site so you can learn to apply the information to your own life and those around you.
These free Scientology courses provide help with such things as marriage problems, trouble with relationships, raising children, difficulties on the job and overcoming stress, anxiety and depression. These are self-guided courses, meaning people move through them at their own pace. Each course includes practical exercises where students get hands-on experience in applying the data. The courses are supervised by trained extension course supervisors who ensure the students can use the material and provide feedback, guidance and help where needed.
The hallmark of the Scientology Volunteer Minister, as described by Scientology leader, David Miscavige, is his or her “indiscriminate acts of kindness and compassion.” To contact a Scientology Volunteer Minister visit the web site at http://www.volunteerministers.org/#/contact.
A cute little story of two Scientology Volunteer Ministers going to India
(from: ScientologyToday.org)
Scientology Volunteer Ministers, Nick and Erin, traveled to Kolkata, India in an effort to make a difference.
Every year, 26 million children reach school age in India. With this, the problem of education in a severely overcrowded school system becomes even more unmanageable. Despite increased school enrollment, some estimate that as many as 50% of India’s children do not attend school. That’s more than 150 million kids.
Time to bring out the Volunteer Ministers! As Church of Scientology leader, David Miscavige, described the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program: “The final word, as regards our front-line work bringing our help wherever and whenever needed is our corps of Scientology Volunteer Ministers — on call, 24 hours a day in scores of nations.”
“Slumdog Millionaire opened our eyes to the horrible conditions in India. We decided to go there and volunteer in the slums and we funded it ourselves,” said Erin.
“We thought if we could bring help there to some of the children who had no formal education and no real hope in life, at least that would be doing something about it,” said Nick.
While in India, Nick and Erin documented their work in the slums to communicate an accurate view of living conditions in India. “We wanted to let people back home know what it’s REALLY like living here, and through raising awareness get more help to the people here, especially the children,” reflected Nick.
These two young Scientology Volunteer Ministers helped teach English and mathematics to the slum children. They used study technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard to helping the kids improve their learning.
“Mr. Hubbard discovered that the first barrier to study is not having the real thing there that you are studying about. The real things or the object that you study are called mass,” said Erin “So, for example, we made sure the kids had things they could actually count with, 5 little wooden blocks lets say that represented the number 5, so they didn’t have to do it all in their heads. They liked that!”
“Conditions here are the worst of the worst,” they wrote to their friends. “It’s been just a continual amazement to both of us that there have been such magical moments, and bright smiling faces in amongst everything else. With all that’s going on in the world it can be very easy to get wrapped up in one’s own problems,” they continued. “The truth is that there are so many people in need of help and with far worse conditions than most can possible imagine. We decided to turn our efforts toward others for a few months and make a difference.”
For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program visit their web site at www.volunteerministers.org or the Scientology Video Channel.
