It would appear that my posting 4 days ago about the failure of the church to update the information about their massive VM relief force in the Philippines caused a stir in the bowels of the beast.
Today the church put out a press release to announce to the world the enormity of their actions (all funded of course by an emergency IAS grant).
The photo that accompanied the story is at left. It shows a grand total of SIX VMs, apparently there is some mission in Manila who “activated their Volunteer Ministers” and they were joined by someone(s) from the India “Goodwill Tour.”
The “story” is defined by its amazing lack of specifics (other than details about the magnitude of the disaster which only highlight the lack of magnitude of the response). Remember, this is the same church that blazes headlines about number of typos corrected and number of dust particles removed from films, feet of wiring in buildings and gives an exact count of imaginary people at the Flag ribbon cutting event.
Just look at the photo, then read the story. See if you can see ANY specifics about what magnitude of “relief” has been provided thanks the the amazing generosity of the IAS and mobilizing the largest private relief force on earth.
This IS what your IAS donations buy. Nothing.
I seriously wonder if Karin Pouw is in fact still there or if she is in the Hole or has been sacrificed or succumbed in some other way. Nobody in their right mind would put out something as ridiculous as this in their own name.
Tacloban, Philippines (PRWEB) December 16, 2013
A month since Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the Philippines, the country is still staggering. The Church of Scientology Mission of Manila immediately activated their Volunteer Ministers to help. They were joined by Volunteer Ministers from abroad who have continued to provide relief to help the country recover.
The Typhoon, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, slammed into the country November 8 with sustained winds as high as 195 mph. More than 5,000 died and the United Nations estimates 1.9 people were forced from their homes. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the storm disrupted the livelihoods of more than 5 million people leaving 2.4 million in need of food.
The Scientology Disaster Response Team, led by veteran Scientology Volunteer Minister Ayal Lindeman of New York and members of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers India Goodwill Tour, is working with government agencies and humanitarian organizations to help with the distribution of food and supplies.
Once they have seen to the physical wellbeing of the survivors, the Volunteer Ministers address their personal needs as well, providing Scientology assists, techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that address the emotional and spiritual factors in trauma, illness and injury. Assists are simple to deliver and learn and the Volunteer Ministers train family members, community leaders and other volunteers in these techniques, making them broadly available.
In creating the Volunteer Ministers program, L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “If one does not like the crime, cruelty, injustice and violence of this society, he can do something about it. He can become a Volunteer Minister and help civilize it, bring it conscience and kindness and love and freedom from travail by instilling into it trust, decency, honesty and tolerance.”
Press Contact: Karin Pouw
Tel: (323) 960-3500
eMail: MediaRelations(at)ChurchofScientology(dot)netSource: ScientologyNews.org
It was my experience in Scientology that the Volunteer Minister’s were only part of the “smoke and mirrors”. As far as I could tell…the IAS spent no money on any disaster relief. One guy from our Org (only because a Whale paid for his trip) flew to a disaster and took lots of pics to show at an event. There were only a handful of people from around the GLOBE. The IAS does not show their financials and are not transparent. We know the spokesperson lies so nothing can be believed. The Org had a VM yellow van that sat in the parking lot with no tags or license for years. It was also in need of repairs. A staff member told me a public would need to donate to get it up and running. It made a nice promo piece – “something can be done about it” plastered on the yellow van…but we all know NOTHING is done about it…and the staff get blamed by upper management if no VM’s step up to the plate during disasters. It truly is a church of front groups … there to deceive people into thinking they are a church that does good things. Scientology Organization does nothing to help humanity – it only hurts!
That’s right, Oracle. Every person who posts here is donating their time in the hope of enlightening others about the fraud that the Church of Scientology has become under DM. We dissect the newsspeak that pours out in a continuous hypnotic stream from people like Karen Paow. Mike provides the forum and inspires the comments we make daily. Sometimes more than daily. Nobody is sending him a paycheck. Nobody is sending us a paycheck. We ARE volunteer ministers in the truest sense of the word. People will waken from the trance. Mike’s persistence and our own is giving the subject of Scientology the only chance it has to survive and make a positive impact on the world. And that positive influence is what we are about. We don’t need any phoney photo-ops. Our ministry is communicating “inconvenient truths” for the benefit of all who seek freedom from lies.
What total shit.
6 people? Walking on a path? Now that’s OT!
WOW, WOW, WOW…..
I don’t see any homeless or displaced in the photo.
Does this mean they took care of ALL of them?…lol.
Also if one is going to do a media release….proofreading is always a terrific idea.
So much fail in this one……
The Philippines is a nation of 94 million people and the Church of Scientology can get only six VM’s to show up.
Six VM’s show up for a photo op at a disaster, the Ideal Orgs are Emptiness writ large in MEST, and the Church has to hire extras to fill seats for CC and Flag events.
What we have is at work here is straight down and vertical contraction into the Crater of Planetary Implosion.
The other picture in their press release shows a couple VMs handing out food supplies from a bag that prominently displays the Red Cross logo to imply cooperation. The only cooperation was probably the Red Cross handing them the bag and saying “Here, make yourselves useful.”
No one needs to send people into a disaster area to hand out other people’s supplies. There are plenty of locals for that.
More likely, someone in the Red Cross is scratching
there head wondering where the Bags of Food went.
Back in the fire, rescue and emergency response days in my ill spent youth we all carried packs (sometimes multiple packs) with medical supplies and food and water enough for our own security plus the sustenance of conscious victims we were extracting. In my experience we rarely pulled an injured person out of a remote area without running IV lines, carrying the victims on stokes stretchers and then to wherever we could land the helo or bring in one of the 4 wheel drive ambulances. Walking down the road without food and water even is either a poor photo op at best or some sort of doomed children’s crusade at worst. This photo makes me think the worst of these people.
Actually, all some needs is a T-Shirt for a photo op.
This is a good time to again note the VMs stat: “People Helped.” The biggest lie in having to do with the VMs (I was a disaster relief VM who stated the flaw in this stat for years).
Here is how it works: 5 VMs go in and help a group of 100 people. Since 5 people helped 100 = “500 People Helped.” And if the VMs stay in the same area of 100 people for a month, they count “500 helped” every day.
Yes! This is how the stat is reported. It’s incorectly named, and misleading. So the next time you hear DM announcing some outrageous stat of “One million people helped!” it’s probably more along the lines of 3,000 actual heads worldwide.
Anon, thank you. I always wondered how the efforts of small groups of VMs up there on the screen at IAS events translated into millions of people being helped. What a rope-a-dope.
And so follows that as six VM’s helped the Philippines, a nation of 94 million, that we in RTC can now authoritatively report that our VM’s helped 564,000,000 people last month.
And as each VM handed out copies of TWTH to people helped, the stat is 564,000,000 people reached last month with TWTH. And this recent and massive distribution of TWTH is precisely date coincident with Iran agreeing to sign a treaty to not build nuclear weapons.
TWTH works — and now more than ever your support is needed to fund these Scientology Humanitarian programs that have factually stopped nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
I checked out the picture of the six local VM’s. I would never want to bash the VM’s personally, as they are only ‘tools’ used to promote an organization, the IAS, that does nothing but collect donations and put them into a black hole of deceit. People should know that the IAS bank account is controlled exclusively by David Miscavige, who is paying dearly for legal protection provided by Monique Yingling, or some other corporate tax attorney. The VM’s are people of good will who want to help others.
Unfortunately, they are being used in the worst way. The IAS takes all the credit for their efforts and calls it their own. The VM’s aren’t even treated properly by the IAS as far as covering their expenses and meeting their basic human needs, such as providing proper meals.
Notice how Karin Pouw attempts to tie in the Red Cross to the VM’s. This is to equate the two in people’s minds; placing the IAS/VM’s on the same or similar level. She’s trying to legitimize the IAS/VM program. She also doesn’t state which “government agencies” and “humanitarian organizations” the VM’s supposedly are working with (none).
Last, Karin wraps it up with a quote from LRH. Another attempt to make it all nicey-nicey, legitimate and (choke) “humanitarian”.
Valerie, thanks for spreading the spirit of Christmas!
My husband and I buy gifts for foster children every year who live in group homes and host a large a Christmas party for them at our business. We get great joy from doing this. We have have mentioned this to people who call from the IAS and TWTH. Think we ever got a donation from them? No Way!
In the past VMs really did go to help out with disasters. Of course they had to pay their own way to get
there, but that’s another matter. The point is they went and did help out. Now with the most devastating natural disaster ever recorded in the Philippines there is no flight piloted by John Travolta as there was for Haiti and apparently no VMs on the way. After 9/11 there was a big push to get all Los Angeles area Auditor’s Association members VM trained, this included Disaster Training by the Los Angeles Fire Department along with First Aid training by The Red Cross. The first wave in LA was done at CC Int and there were hundreds who got this training. But when the 1st anniversary of 9/11 rolled around the following year, there was no coordination in place to get VMs to any disaster site. VMs had become their own SO run group (meaning “amateurs” need not apply) and there was no more Auditor’s Association Convention at Flag on Auditor’s Day. Auditor’s Day was officially now strictly a local event.
I think these are just random people wearing yellow t-shirts. If they had 12 t-shirts available, we would see 12 people, and so on. I’m used to seeing volunteers actually doing touch assists or nerve assists, etc.
So the IAS is there to help folks. Well some of the folks that need the most help are those who have donated so much that they are now too broke to pay their bills, let alone Scientology services.
I think out of the goodness its heart, Scientology should make a list of those who have gone broke because of reg abuse, over charging for services, IAS and other excess donations, and send them all a few bucks to maybe buy a coat or two and make it through the holidays.
I like this new design on this blog. The new colors and such.
And why they won’t show their donors the books. If they did, I’m sure it’s at least 12 years hard time.
Generalities, no numbers … nothing said. Calling and merely leaving a message on their answering machine(s) qualifies as “working with government agencies and humanitarian organizations”.
Yeah, hey, I suppose that tax return I file every year could be considered “working with government agencies and humanitarian organizations” too! By God, I think I’ll update my C.V. right now!
Ever hear about the Japanese soldier discovered in the jungles of Guam in the 1970s who thought WWII was still going on somehow? That is what these stories with no specifics remind me of.
This is exactly the sort of phony photo-op philanthropy that has earned Scientology the contempt and derision it so rightly deserves.
In the Philippines, it can be best described as “maraming bola-bola”, which loosely translates as “a lot of bullshit”.
South African blog: “GAT II” … “Public were encouraged to obtain their training before the release” … “The org was promising GATII services at ‘today’s prices’.” … “But now the bubble has burst.” …
http://backincomm.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/gat-ii-the-advanced-obstacle-route-up-the-bridge/
Wow!!! Wow!!! Wow!!! 8 (or 6) VMs for 1.9 people!!! That’s a ratio of 8 (or 6) : 1.9 = 421% (or 316)% !!!
(Contrary to the claims of some bitter defrocked apostates on the fringe of the internet who are implying a ratio of 0.00016% (or 0.00012%) = 8 (or 6) : 5 million – No exclamation compulsive disorder here -).
“If one does not like the crime, cruelty, injustice and violence of this society, he can do something about it. He can become a Volunteer Minister and help civilize it, bring it conscience and kindness and love and freedom from travail by instilling into it trust, decency, honesty and tolerance.”
What are the lot of us if not Volunteer Ministers?
This sorta reminds me of the old propaganda movies Goebbels made near the end of WW II when the Soviets were relentlessly moving in from the east and the Allies from the west.
Meanwhile Goebbels was making movies about how the Third Reich was winning the war.
Obviously they are reading your blog.
Because I remember myself and possibly other commenters making the comment that whatever VMs they had on the ground were omitting the basics like food, water, shelter and medical attention.
Now I see them mentioned in this email.
Sorta like yeah we’re doing that.
So take that you bunch of nattering nabobs of negativity.
Whatever.
Truth is they probably got a bunch of people in those gaudy canary yellow t-shirts and like Goebbels movie team to pretend they’re doing something effective in front of the cameras.
The Church has become nothing but an organ of Propaganda in the true sense as far as its etymology which is derived from Latin congregatio de propaganda fide meaning congregation for propagation of the faith which is all they seem to be doing these days.
The money goes to financial machination and speculation with bankers and brokers. The rest to private security and PIs, lawyers, forensic accountants, and a whole slew of adult toys human or not. And scotch, pricey but it doesn’t give you a hangover. It goes to buy properties the org gives away, which later can float loans off for other purposes you (as a donor) might not want.
For certain it won’t go to org staff so adults don’t have to live with their parents. Or have to drive a cab at night. Or live cramped up in a small apartment with six other people. Or having to constantly beg or borrow from friends and family so you can feed yourself as you hear “We’ve raised 10 million!”. Nope, no small monthly stipend, god forbid the IAS or the VMs do anything to make life easier for the people who work hardest for them. Not even buying a small apartment complex so staff can live–public would give to that if they’re getting gains. I’m so grateful for a couple of exceptional auditors to the extent that I put them in my will. Charity begins at home absurd VMs. You have other options.
The church needs to clear the words “trust” “decency” “honesty” and “tolerance”(cf the end of the LRH quote they use), because I am not feeling it. Those people in the yellow T-shirts are probably doing what they can with what they have – and the church rides on the back of their good intentions – to justify the next fundraiser.
The sleep deprivation and diet of beans and rice shows on disastrous these e-mails.
Since dave and his friends seem to frequent this blog, and since they seem to provide some sort of knee-jerk response to any criticism leveled at them here, I have some advice for them.
I don’t believe that most of the people here are ridiculing any honest efforts to help people. What is actually being derided, and what is actually contemptible is the FRAUD.
Since the word “fraud” might not be listed in any of your glossaries and since you don’t seem to need or use dictionaries anymore…Fraud. n 1. wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
You may not be aware of this, but when you gather up $100,000 in IAS donations stating they are being used specifically to send some volunteer ministers to a disaster area, you are legally required to use that money as you promised. If you don’t, that is a crime that could force you to have to pay the money back and possibly even put you in jail.
If you are, like dave, a criminal, you will likely just laugh at this information.
If you are actually a caring individual who is trying to do good, you should demand to see the IAS accounts and verify that you are not committing FRAUD.
Yes, the photo shows zero people around being helped by this Disaster Response team.
Wonder if they got lost and the statistic is now number of seconds looking for the correct route; but, aren’t they have been led by the blind?
The photograph speaks for itself. Obviously, the VM team just got there and are hurrying to where damage is the greatest, and need most critical. And when they get there they will do stuff.
You don’t see that?
Hey Dave, Still using this blog to keep up to date on your cult’s activities?
I shudder at the thought of what it’s really like at ground zero.
One thing for sure Manila is nothing in comparison.( where the VM’s are hold up)
This charade is for the benefit of IAS reg’s who have special “PI hurricane disaster” DVD’s “hot off the press” to put the squeeze on Public trying to get in session or next OT level.
Let’s see the financial records of where the money goes.
Let some Justice dept auditors earn their keep and some Christmas overtime..
Make the findings public record, GAO report to Congress in the Congressional record.
I posted this comment on Tony’s site yesterday. It is amazingly appropriate for your post today (I edited it to correct my typos from yesterday.)
I just spent the weekend doing what passes for our version of “Volunteer Minister” where I live. Every Christmas a group of us (nothing to do with a religion, just a group of like-minded people with a few dollars to spare) dress up in worn jeans and dark sweatshirts, put on ski hats and parkas and boots (in our climate, that does not look suspicious) and arm ourselves with about $50,000 worth of gift cards for Wal Mart, K-Mart and the local grocery store and gas stations and walk through the stores watching for people who look like they are the neediest.
Boom! We drop a gift card (or two or three) into their hands, wish them a Merry Christmas and head off for the next likely suspect. We do our best to disguise our voices, keep our faces makeup free and our hair covered and make sure no one takes pictures of us. If a reporter or someone with a camera approaches us, we ask them politely to please not publish anything about it, as it is a gift of love, and recognition would spoil the beauty of the act. Some people also get cards for the local safe house or food bank with their gift card. No one gets TWTH or touch assists.
We also hand some cards to selected cashiers (with their bosses’ blessing) who can pay for selected customers’ groceries as they go through checkout.
THIS is why the Volunteer Ministers’ program pisses me off. If one whale donated $50,000 to Volunteer Ministers and it went to actually helping as opposed to paying for photo ops, someone might actually do some good somewhere.
Wow — wonderful story. Thankyou.
Valerie, what great things you and your friends are doing. And doing it for no recognition too. Davie wouldn’t know what that means as all he does is for self-aggrandizement. Thank you so much for what you and your friends do. And you don’t give TA’s or WTH books. I loved that line!
Actually, what DM is doing is policy under “Good works well publicised”, except it has become “Bad photo ops poorly publicised”. Either way, there does not seem to be much room in the RCS or in admin policy to do good without milking it to within an inch of its life.
So cool!
What a beautiful story! Truly the spirit of the season.
Awesome, Valerie!
Greta
Re the photograph: these are just 6 people wearing yellow T-shirts walking down a cleared walkway. I don’t see them DOING anything worthwhile for anyone. They couldn’t have had a big choice of photographs if they chose that one to publish!
Yep. I don’t think there could have been a lot they could do given that they probably get no money at all from the IAS. The promo does not even mention the IAS donations – although we know they were using the tragedy to fundraise. I have heard from more than one source, that most expenses in any of these projects is funded by the people who do them. IAS? B/S more like it!
Come on Miscavige, you are usually so obsessed with numbers and stats – tell us the $$$ spent on this. My guess is that the IAS grant was less than the amount spent on one giant red ribbon to open the SP building. Maybe it was nothing at all.
You can tell that the photo of the VM’s is only a posed Photo Op for PR purposes. It is not a live action one. Notice that each person is standing / walking in exact place so that the one behind him can be seen. Each face can be seen of the paltry 6 people. If it were a real candid picture, it would be more chaotic and some faces would be behind others and not very visible etc. This is an obviously posed one and again, where are the supplies they should be carrying? Where is the brush and debris that needs to be cleared? Seems some other group of people did it for them before they ever arrived. They are irrelevant.
Hey Jane Doe. What you is true. I visited a company doing some good work with pictures taken and sent in showing their efforts.
I then saw the following IAS event with those exact pictures used to show great work being done in a country nearby, not by a company but by some government organization.
Complete a total fabrication.
A friend then attended a Gold shooting of another group. The crew took the figure of 2000 people trained over a 4 year period and made it 12,000. When challenged the Gold crew said they were not making a documentary but a promotional video.
Complete and total fabrication.
A friend of a friend spoke on the phone to a top exec who was fine-tuning the next IAS video commentary and made a special and specific point of stating that the group was a private and small company that had initiated this local expansion and it had nothing to do with the govt. The top exec kept asking what involvement the govt had in this event.
The event came out, claiming a fully govt backed venture.
Intentionally altered data.
You be right Jane Doe.
In this PR cyber world we are in, it is NO LONGER necessary to show these pesky details of
people DOING something. Give’ em a yellow shirt and let people dub-in the rest…..They know the drill. Yellow shirt = VM’s helping to save lives….
DM is just doing what the REAL ‘big boys’ are doing. See an example of the Sandy Hook ‘massacre’ and that is just one detail of mind manipulation out of a whole event created by these illusion artists:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/25499.html.
(You may have to copy/paste this link).
It is worth learning about all of the aspects of manipulation to make distasteful goals acceptable and necessary to support due to the magnitude of a crime.(that was actually invented). Psych ops at its best. Looks real at first glance but won’t hold up when looking into the details.
Greta
Does anyone recognize any of the volunteer ministers? I don’t want to be overly cynical, but why aren’t they carrying any of the supplies or medicines Pouw claims they helped to distribute? Did someone just hand out yellow t-shirts and ask people to pose as VMs? Even of this was a sham VMS mission, you would think the church would at least pretend it was helping victims.
That’s what I was thinking. ! They could have just paid each of those guys $5 to don a yellow t-shirt and pose in the road. Extras’ parking. 🙂 That was what occurred to me on first glance. Where are the yellow tents. Where are the people they are helping? Where is anything?… besides a group of guys walking down the road.
I give this a Flunk.
They probably just sent a box of tshirts and the locals who now have no clothes put them on and that was that. The note went like this. “Here are some yellow shirts for you to wear. They were left over from a bygone age. If you like there are thousands more due to the fact that we have no VM’s left. You could dress your local soccer team in them. Good luck on your Nigerian Web Email scam. Its very similar to the one we run here in the USA. Ours is called the Ideal Org program in case you want to copy it.
You took the words from beneath my fingers, Zana. What BS! They are local resident “extras” earning a few much-needed dollars.
Say, why don’t we bust b**ls by asking for the NAMES of these Scn VMs sauntering down the lane all tricked out in their yellow T’s? Wouldn’t the RCS know who these people are? Why don’t we call and ask, “Who are these people?” And observe them squirm and become very evasive!
They look like they’re on their way to a company picnic.
“…the church put out a press release to announce to the world the enormity of their actions.” Maybe you meant ‘enormousness’? No matter; ‘enormity’ fits this cynically despicable piece of hypocrisy rather well:
enormity ɪˈnɔːmɪti noun
1. the great or extreme scale, seriousness, or extent of something perceived as bad or morally wrong. “A thorough search disclosed the full enormity of the crime”
2. a grave crime or sin. “The enormities of war”
Antonyms: triviality, smallness.
Synonyms: wickedness, evilness, vileness, baseness, blackness, depravity.
Thanks Mark. I really did mean enormousness, but I think enormity might have been just as appropriate. I thought until now they were basically interchangeable….
It always depends on which dictionary you consult. No two are alike.
For instance, the online Merriam-Webster has as its 3rd def. “the quality or state of being huge : immensity ”
whereas the Collins dictionary states:
“British English: enormity
If you refer to the enormity of something that you consider to be a problem or difficulty, you are referring to its very great size, extent, or seriousness”
I love geeks!
The Oxford unabridged has: 3.3 Excess in magnitude; hugeness, vastness. Obs.
I didn’t know it was now obsolete. I’ve heard it used in this way for decades…
The original meaning of “enormity” was “something very outside the norms”, here meaning moral norms. The adjective “enormous” also meant outside the normal, unusual, but eventually became restricted to meaning huge in size. When a crime is described as an “enormity” however the reference was supposed to be, not to how huge a crime it was, but to how far it was from how normal people would behave. This is one of those battles that is completely lost however (“stay the course” for example was a nautical order meaning to STOP going the way you were going, “stay” as in “stay of execution” or a stay of any other court order; but since George W. Bush repeatedly told us to stay the course in Iraq, the old meaning is impossible to reinstate).
Speaking of “lack of specifics”. I rarely get mail from the church of any kind any more. However, lately I’ve gotten promo from IAS Administrations asking for donations.
I wanted to contact them and explain to them that the IAS has no basis in LRH policy and remind them that special people like me aren’t suppose to be contacted by them anyway .
But there was no phone number to reach them. There was an email address, but it didn’t work. Also, on their web site, I couldn’t find a phone number. I’m wondering if anyone is still manning the fort?
“… explain to them that the IAS has no basis in LRH policy”
What you run into is complete identification, for example:
IAS = HASI
COB = LRH = Source
Scientology = Church of Scientology
Policy = Command Intention
GAT I = Standard Tech
GAT II = Standard Tech
Disagreement = Suppressive Person
This is the level of “thinking” found in a household pet.
Nailed it, Statpush. I’m actually keying out just reading this Identity-Think Item Summary List of yours. I’m also copying it to carry around with me because whatever keys me in about the RCS falls under one or more of these categories Thank you, no kidding!
Hey! My cat begs to differ.
My apologies to beloved pets everywhere. The great thing about pets is they are almost incapable of betrayal. 🙂
Oh! thought of another one…
IAS Status = Upstat
Yes, my kitty is very smart. How about Fancy building=cleared people
Duly noted and added to List.
Is this a great blog group or what? 🙂
REPLY TO STATPUSH: Why are you insulting the intelligence of household pets? LOL
Trust, decency, honesty & tolerance……. send the VMs to HCOs around the world to install those virtues which are completely absent.
+1!
What happens if you call the number given here for Karin, I wonder? I can’t remember any reports of any actual live contact with her for quite a while. It would definitely be strange to hear the voicemail greeting of an unperson.
You will be routed to an answering machine to “leave a message.”
And your number will be immediately be captured by RCS for regging for eternity I bet.
I think there are eight. There is a blue umbrella being held by somebody, and somebody is behind the guy on the far right. You can’t see if they have yellow t-shirts or not.
I wouldn’t count them, because they would have been told to come forward. (You might want to count the camera guy, though.)
1.9 people evacuated from their homes. That is almost TWO people. One must have left his dentures behind to account for the .9.
🙂
Greta
That was funny!
Laughter!
LOL! But that also indicates that the VM response was proportionate to the disaster the VMs perceived: the ratio of VMs to people in need of help is better than 3:1. Probably another highest ever.
By the way, the army of 6 VMs actually don’t look like they are helping anyone, they look like they are on a wee stride (to quote my Scottish friend). It seems like they either have a lot of free time on their hands, or haven’t located the 2.4 million people in need of food yet, and still looking for them. But they don’t seem to be carrying any food either, so it is kinda unclear how they are going to help them if/when they happen to find them.
The most notable outpoint on the picture (don’t even get me started on the accompanying drivel) is that these VMs are LONELY. They are not working with anything or anybody. They are just walking down a nice and safe walkway, away from any people who may need help. The millions in need of help are conspicuously out of sight. They are probably taking the afternoon off.
OK, I can’t force myself not to comment on one sentence though:
“… help with the distribution of food and supplies. Once they have seen to the physical wellbeing of the survivors, the Volunteer Ministers address their personal needs as well…”
These six people. They fix the disruption of food supplies and see to the physical well being of a few million survivors by noon, provide them with spiritual relief by the afternoon, and then they need to find something else to do for the night.
Now that’s OT.
Only 1.9 people displaced? Amazing! Then they helped distribute food and supplies and held touch-assist training clinics for some unspecified number of people.
The only positive I can add is that their huge response team doesn’t seem to have 8put much extra strain on the local systems since they have so few people.