(1888PressRelease)
June 07, 2009 - West Bengal, India--A team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers has spent the past week helping the people of West Bengal recover from Cyclone Alia.
The Scientology volunteers have been assisting government agencies along with other private relief organizations, first in the search and rescue operation, and in providing needed supplies to those who are stranded.
Alia is responsible for the deaths of at least 200 in Bangladesh and India. The storm stuck on May 25th, two weeks before the expected start of the monsoon season. More than a million were marooned, left homeless, or crowded into government-run shelters, schools or makeshift camps without adequate supplies or sanitation.
In Bangladesh the storm inundated vast stretches of rice paddies and cropland with salty seawater. It submerged the entire coastal island of Nijhum Dwip, leaving its 25,000 residents homeless. In India, when Alia hit Kolkata, it snapped power lines, downed trees and tore the roofs off buildings.
The West Bengal Scientology Volunteer Ministers are seasoned disaster relief specialists who have helped most recently with emergency response after the Bihar floods and the Mumbai terror attacks. In addition to caring for the physical needs of those affected by the cyclone, these volunteers are trained to provide Scientology Assists, simple techniques developed by Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, that speed recovery from the effects of a disaster by helping people overcome the emotional and spiritual aspects of trauma.
For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers visit their web site at http://www.volunteerministers.org or the Scientology Video Channel at htt://www.scientology.org.
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