Scientologist aid fail & special treatment - Haiti

This is not the first time that the 'church' of Scientology has 'come to the rescue' at a natural disaster. And each time there are accounts of how they where unprepared and in the way. This time in Haiti they have not just been in the way but got special treatment where there where other organizations who would actually be helpful struggling to get in. This is a report from a person traveling on a plane with scientologist's to Haiti:

I arrived at JFK last week, ready to go.

I knew we were traveling with doctors and EMTs, but I didn't expect to see 50 scientologists, in their yellow shirts with Volunteer Minister on them. They were completely unprepared for going to a third world country, let alone a disaster zone. One girl was in designer cowboy boots. I asked her if she'd brought any sturdier footwear.

"Oh no, these'll be fine."

I asked another guy what he'd packed and he said he hadn't bothered to bring soap or toilet paper or food, but that he'd just "buy whatever I need at Port-au-Prince airport." I couldn't break it to him.

They had no place to stay, and no supplies — their idea was to use the ton of money they had to buy food to distribute when they got there. But there was no food and no water. That was the point.

By the time we arrived in Haiti, after a stopover in Miami, we had missed three landing slots at the airport. Aid agencies — genuine aid agencies — from other countries were being turned away, refused permission to land. But we still got a slot straight away. The guy who ran our charter seemed to think that the Scientologists had some real influence with the US Government, who were assigning the slots.

The doctors and EMTs in our party headed straight downtown to start working. The Scientologists had nowhere to go, and nowhere to put up the big yellow tent they'd brought for touch healing people in. They went to the UN, and managed to get on to their list of approved NGOs somehow. That meant they could set up in the UN grounds.

But they had no-one who spoke Creole, and they brought the weirdness of touch healing into a very superstitious society. They'd leave the tent and come into the general hospital downtown, and try healing people. One of the doctors and one of the nurses told me that the wounded started coming to them to tell them they didn't want to be treated by the people in the yellow shirts.

One nurse told me that the Scientologists actually caused harm — they gave food to people who were scheduled to go into surgery. That then led to complications in the operating theater.

On the way back, the plane stopped in Miami and did not go on to New York, stranding all the doctors and EMTs and journalists who expected to get back. After much fighting, the Scientologist representative agreed to fly any of the EMTs that "absolutely couldn't afford the ticket" on Jet Blue from Fort Lauderdale. I heard there were complications but had bought my own ticket because I was fed up with their weirdness. Gawker.com

They where allowed to land, where there has been reports of real medical aid agencies where not allowed to land. They are given special allocated place to pitched their yellow tent where there is people with a lack of hospital facilities.

They are only there to 'counsel' people in trauma and is only qualified to administer 'touch assist' which is a type of healing according to Scientology. According to a volunteer touch assist is when a joint in a persons body has lost communication with the rest of their body, and by touching the joint/any part of the body that is in need of healing (through clothes) and that person acknowledges the touch, communication will restore and the body part will function again.

While hundreds of people need real medical help with serious infections. How these people where allowed to land is incomprehensible. This is what the Scientologist had to say about their efforts.

In point of fact, Scientology Volunteer Ministers are the only people on the planet who can provide true assistance when disaster strikes.

Picture used is from Mexico and is not related to article only to demonstrate how the scientology tent normally looks.