Inspired by the Scientology Volunteer Ministers motto—that something can be done about it—24 local volunteers joined the disaster response team to assist Chateaubelair Hospital.

With only four hospitals serving the island of St. Vincent, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Team enlisted the help of 24 local volunteers to clean up volcanic debris at the Chateaubelair Hospital.

For weeks, La Soufrière Volcano, less than 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) from Chateaubelair, spewed rocks and pyroclastic flows—dense, fast-moving flows of solidified lava, volcanic ash, and hot gases. This clogged the hospital’s drains and blocked water from flowing out to sea. In St. Vincent’s hot, humid climate, standing water can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry malaria and dengue fever. Stagnant water like this can also act as an incubator for bacteria and parasites.

Imbued with the Scientology Volunteer Ministers’ “can-do” spirit and their motto, “Something can be done about it,” the team tackled the task of cleaning out the drains.

“We dug out the drainage ditch that leads from the hospital,” says the lead Scientology Volunteer Minister, now back home now in Florida after the team completed their mission to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “We also repaired a pipe on the main road that was blocking access to water for several houses. Then we moved on to the hospital proper, cleaned up the grounds and cleared off the roof of the recovery room.

For 16 days, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers St. Vincent Disaster Response Team brought relief to thousands of residents in need of help. The Freewinds, the Church of Scientology religious retreat and humanitarian ship in the Caribbean, arranged for the team of Florida-based volunteers to fly in to the Island and also arranged a 40-foot container of urgently needed supplies.  

 The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

A Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.” Their creed: “A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”

L. Ron Hubbard is the Founder of the Scientology religion and Mr. David Miscavige is the religion’s ecclesiastical leader.