A year since tragedy hit the quiet town of Pisco, Peru, two Scientology volunteers who were there look back. by Elana
(conservative)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
A bit over a year ago, on August 15th, 2007, a magnitude-8 earthquake rocked the coastal region of central Peru, causing more than 500 deaths and leaving over 1,800 injured. The earthquake destroyed nearly 60,000 buildings and damaged another 20,000. Although the town of Pisco was hardest hit, the earthquake shook the city of Lima more than 150 miles away and was felt as far off as Quito, Ecuador, La Paz, Bolivia and Manaus, Brazil.
Two Los Angeles area Scientologists packed their bags and left for Peru on hearing of the disaster. This is their story--one year later.
Gloria and Eric Anderson were part of the Scientology Disaster Relief Team in Pisco following the 2007 earthquake.
Gloria: I am from Peru. I have three grown daughters there. These people are my brothers. They were suffering and we just had to go. We made the decision immediately and within four days we were there.
Eric: One of Gloria's daughters contacted us 20 minutes after the earthquake. That's how we learned about it chatting with her online. When an aftershock hit she wrote, "Mom, I have to go, the ground is moving!"
The earthquake destroyed most of the homes in Pisco and everywhere you looked there was thick dust in the streets--dust that was all that remained of thousands of homes that disintegrated.
Eric: Once we got there there were so many people who needed help and so much that needed to be done that I found myself energized despite the harsh conditions. Being in Pisco and seeing the amount of destruction was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. Most of the buildings in Pisco are made of adobe unburned, sun-dried, mud bricks. The earthquake destroyed most of the homes in Pisco and everywhere you looked there was thick dust in the streets dust that was all that remained of thousands of homes that disintegrated.
I was struck by the absence of people in the town. Thousands of residents were in tents that they pitched along roadsides. Although the people of the town gradually started returning home to salvage their property, when we arrived it was only the military and humanitarian relief organizations that were there, carrying out the salvage and relief operation. Soldiers and relief workers had been up around the clock for days and were in very rough shape.
Gloria: After what they had just experienced most of the people in Pisco were terrified of the possibility of another building collapsing on them. Even though there was a very large shelter set up for them, with plenty of room inside, many were too terrified to stay inside an enclosed space and they camped outside the shelters instead. I had studied the basics of organization as part of my Volunteer Ministers training and I also had some training in disaster relief as part of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in Los Angeles. So I had an idea of what it would take to organize and run the shelters.
In the first shelter I went to, the military and police were afraid of riots because of food and water shortages. I put what I had learned right to work. We assigned people jobs and organized up teams of volunteers from the people in the shelter, and before long the whole place was calm, the people were feeling more relaxed and hopeful and the danger of any rioting was a thing of the past. People just started peacefully helping one another.
Eric: Assists are procedures developed by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion, to help people who are ill, distraught or injured. After a person has received any needed first aid or medical attention, assists can be used to help the person with the emotional and spiritual aspect of trauma. They enable the person to recover fully from injury, stress or shock.
Gloria: We gave Scientology assists to the people there, and showed them how to give assists to their friends and family. One woman was devastated when her friends died in the cathedral only feet from where she was standing, and she was unable to do anything to save them. We gave her a Scientology assist, and for the first time since the tragedy she was able to forgive herself for living when her friends had died. She wanted to learn how to help others and I showed her the Scientology Handbook with its very simple directions and she started going up to people in the shelter and giving them assists.
Literally everyone in the town those first few days was feeling the effects of traumathe survivors had lost everything, the soldiers and relief workers were working long hours under very trying conditions. But thanks to Scientology assists we were able to help people experience relief, which helped them to get on with what they had to do.
Eric: I used assist technology with the kids in the Volunteer Ministers tent in downtown Pisco. I wasn't sure what to expect. In LA I'm a substitute teacher, and I work with kids all the time, but I have never dealt with kids who have had such a traumatic experience.
There was one boy who was crying and really disoriented. I decided to give him a Scientology assist to help him over the trauma. Within a few minutes he was laughing and he ran off to play with the other kids. It was great to see how the children responded to assists almost immediately.
One thing that really stands out for me was a Scientology assist I gave to one man. He was stooped over, in so much pain from his back that he couldn't stand up or lie down. The assist was miraculous. After a few minutes, the pain in his back was gone and he was able to stand up straight. He was stunned!
Gloria: One thing you learn in Scientology is that there is an emotional tone scale. People tend to move through certain emotions. It's quite predictable. One thing we know is that when people are grieving, they have to move up through other emotional tones such as fear, resentment and anger before they can feel cheerful again. Knowing this, we were able to warn the police and military that this would probably happen and they should not worry about riots, but should let people simply come up though resentment, anger and antagonism because they will get through those tones and be cheerful again.
We were particularly concerned about this with the children we were working with when they started feeling angry they might break into fights. Because we showed the police this information in the Scientology Handbook, they were not caught off guard. Sure enough, a number of the children started acting feisty, but that was short lived, and it never developed into anything serious.
Gloria: In addition to helping individuals I trained many of the soldiers, volunteers and other emergency response personnel in Scientology assist technology. We did a seminar for the Red Cross and volunteers from the Health Ministry. They were very happy to have these skills and pitched right in giving assists to anyone who needed help. We also trained soldiers, kids and anyone else who wanted to help.
Gloria: At the beginning I spent all my time helping the military troops who were in Pisco for the salvage and recovery operation. I found one soldier who was very upset. It seemed that right after the soldiers arrived in the town it was rocked by a major aftershock. The soldiers were terrified and they started running up the side of the mountain to safety, but the commanding officer ordered them back to the valley to the see to their equipment. This soldier was terribly shaken by that incident but after an assist he pulled out of it and was no longer bothered by it.
Another soldier was in pain and was very upset. He had personally hauled out the bodies of 25 people who died when the cathedral in the center of town collapsed. I gave him a Scientology assist, which helped with his pain. But he was still introverted and suffering emotionally.
I decided to use Dianetics techniques with this soldier. After running through the incident that had just occurred, he realized there was an earlier incident that was similar to this the death of his own father some years earlier. His father's death had affected him deeply, and although it happened years earlier he was still grieving. With the use of Dianetics techniques he not only experienced relief from the horrors he had just lived through, but he also finally came to terms with his father's death. He felt better and more energetic than he had in years, ready to get back to his responsibilities as part of the military unit protecting the people of Pisco.
Eric: When we decided to go to Peru I knew what we were about to do was important, but I had no concept of the impact our team would have. It's pretty amazing to realize that you were the deciding factor in people's lives. Scientology technology worked miracles in our hands.
The few weeks we spent in Peru felt like a lifetime. I think that's because we did and accomplished more for the people we met and helped in a few weeks than most people do in their entire lives. I have been a Scientologist for 29 years and I have helped many people but I never experienced anything as rewarding and gratifying as this.
Gloria: As a Scientology Volunteer Minister my intention is to help people and I know how to do so. The wonderful thing is that all you need is the intention to help because with this technology, you really can.
Gloria and Eric Anderson with other Scientology Volunteer Ministers and members of the Health Ministry whom they trained in techniques from the Scientology Handbook.
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 "They enable the person to recover fully from injury, stress or shock." Scientology was expressly prohibited a a US federal judge's ruling, and from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), from making claims that Scientology "tech" could diagnose or treat any health condition whatsoever. So I guess Scientology continues to violate this ruliing.
"After a few minutes, the pain in his back was gone and he was able to stand up straight." As above.
"We assigned people jobs and organized up teams of volunteers from the people in the shelter, and before long the whole place was calm, the people were feeling more relaxed and hopeful and the danger of any rioting was a thing of the past." So you guys did what the police, soldiers, and United Nations workers (you pose by their flag above) were unable to do, preventing riots due to food and water shortages. Do you realize how arrogant yet ridiculous that sounds?
"It's pretty amazing to realize that you were the deciding factor in people's lives." Give me a break.
"In addition to helping individuals I trained many of the soldiers, volunteers and other emergency response personnel in Scientology assist technology. We did a seminar for the Red Cross and volunteers from the Health Ministry." Scientology constantly mentions the Red Cross in its propaganda materials. The Red Cross has come out specifically to say it neither has nor wants any involvement whatsoever with Scientology.
Learn more about what legitimate emergency professionals and human rights workers call the "Vulture Ministers": http://www.cosvm.org/
This would seem to be the same cynical recruiting tactic disguised as altruism that the Scientology organization tried to use at Ground Zero after 9/11. People who are hurt or under emotional stress are easy targets for their "body routers" (their own term - creepy, isn't it?).
 A fact-based rebuttal: http://www.nolanchart.com/article4766.html
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A personal account of their tactics at Ground Zero: http://www.cosvm.org/disruptc.htm
 This person hits the nail on the head when she describes their methodology as "intellectual and spiritual terrorism". Don't be fooled by their goody-goody public front - Scientologists are specifically trained to lie. No, I'm not exaggerating - here's the actual text of their protocol for "TR-L" (Training Routine - Lying):
So, in reality, you did absolutely nothing but be there and touch these people.
Wow. Really. Wow.
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What a way to help. Don't you feel ridiculous, when others are really helping with food, water, shelter, saving people from dying and you are just in their way to touch them?
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You're a dangerous bunch of crooks, hiding behind the cloak of a religion. Scientology was thought up by a delirious, paranoid science fiction writer, Lafayette Ron Hubbard.
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It is only fitting you are dubbed 'Vulture Ministers', since you prey on the most vulnerable of people. Those that just suffered from traumatic events. And all of that just to get more people into the dangerous cult of Scientology.
Great article. It's especially impressive and a testament to a job done sincerely when people who can't stand the thought of anyone helping his fellow man feel they have to criticize and snipe at it.
I notice the same old tactics in some of these comments; no effort to help, just attempts to degrade and smear. Anyone could notice that the detractors run from any considered discussion of the technology; too many people have profited from its use.
Thanks for the article.
Posted By: General Public AYS
Date: 2008-09-12 00:56:58
FrankG, your rhetoric is poor and rushed, with the noticeable bad spelling of a typical scilon poster. You could brush up your speech-making a bit by learning from one of those ancient Greek masters. Of course, according to the Fat One, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Socrates, as well as Jesus, the Buddha and other wise characters from our past were just bits of R6, discovered in the desert by madmen.
So, where did you learn your spelling? From the Midget Savage? Shame on you, even he can spell \'psychiatric\'.
As for \'fellon\'...is that a type of cake? Or is it a verb, as in \'fell-on\'? I have no idea.
Finally your statement: "They are just a decayed part of society." is incorrect. Technically speaking, if something is decayed it\'s gone . It ceases to be a part of anything. A person under those conditions would be already be on their way to meet their maker. Perhaps you mean ".....decaying part of society".
Still ridiculous; \'decaying\' implies a decreasing in quantitive mass, reduction of original robustness, losing, dying, a movement away from intention. But Anonymous are vigourously out to get you -are they not?Â
People who are very afraid tend to scream or speak nervous gibberish. When V. Fat Ronald suffered anxiety attacks he took the anti-psychotic drug Vistaril. Perhaps you should emulate your leader a little more closely.
Posted By: Susan \\\'Sue\\\' Mee
Date: 2008-09-12 01:28:09
"Anyone could notice that the detractors run from any considered discussion of the technology"
Darrell Edrich has of course all the proof of a technology which has been subjected to strict ,independant, scientific testing. The verifiable documentation of these experiments, witnessed by non-scientologist professional scientists, have unfortunately been left on a Greyhound bus between Clearwater and that boat full of asbestos. But as soon as he has them back he will let us know. Then we can join in with a 'considered' discussion of the tech.
I have some nice questions which I would like him to answer, as I bet many others have too. I hope he doesn't suffer from the shyness which normally overcomes his friends when questioned. Â
These people you have relieved from suffering,what are their names? Can't remember? Had no time to ask?This soldier, he can be traced can't he? Whats his regiment and rank?WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES???
Vulture Ministers prey on the needy when they are most vulnerable, blocking real doctors from helping when the victims need it the most, and leeching supplies from real relief efforts. You vultures are disgusting.
Anons are, among other things, critics and protestors. As a loosely based group, they stand up against the abuses in the cult. That is one of the purposes of the group.
However, we choose to remain anonymous, because the Cult has a history of abuse and harassment.
However, we claim "anonymous" when we are fighting this frightening group. As individuals, we are as unique as free men and women could be. You judge too quickly, FrankG.
Wow, so many vague statements. Not a shred of proof they actually did anything to help people. Just hokey claims of miracle cures and people suddenly going, OH MY, I SEE THE LIGHT. I MUST BE A SCIENTOLOGIST!!!
 Wow. This reads like one of those cheezy infomercials you see at god awful AM in the morning on TV.
While I'm sure you *think* that you are helping, petting people is not real help. What supplies did you bring in?
Who elected you two mutts leaders? Did you just bustle in and start barking orders to people who didn't care enough to tell you to GTFO?
Did you bring your own food and water?
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Frank G. I don't even want to get into depth with your idiotic, poorly spelled and judgemental post. Suffice it to say, you know nothing about the individuals who make up anonymous. While I'm sure you feel quite the clever fellow with this ability to make snap judgements about people you don't know, to the rest of the world you are just another arrogant Scientologist dupe.
Donating money to legitimate organizations such as the Red Cross is far more useful than travelling hundreds of miles to pet people and write up happy dippy PR reports such as these.
First of all, nice article. I enjoyed reading about people getting better, and especially in those circumstances.
You know what the sniping remind me of? Hubbard once told a story about how he ate ice cream in India while people around him told him how bad it was to eat a dairy product. It reminds me of adults enjoying chocolate cake, when there is plenty of chocolate cake. And the kids snipe because their parents told them they should not have any sweets. Its a tickle. Hey people, understand anything you want to in any way you choose to, d'y'know what I mean?Â
Sniping at someone for eating ice cream is a heck of a lot different than this situation, although I certainly understand why you'd want to be condescending to the other posters here.
Anywho, I beleive that it's a legitimate question to ask how effective, objectively speaking, the VM's are? Has there been any verification of the long-term effects of their methods?
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