WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- Family members looking for information about relatives in 
Iman Shabazz was there; several of her relatives are unaccounted for.
"My heart is more than broken," she said. "That's my ancestry, my roots, where I'm from."
Bob Remy was on the phone with a friend in Haiti when the quake hit.
"She was frantic," he says.
Remy quickly tried to phone other friends there before the communications system went down.
"My relatives are okay, but my friends daughter broke both legs and an arm, and he can't help her, Remy said. "The roads are cut off."
About a dozens volunteers from the Church of Scientology came to the embassy today too.
"We can see these people are in big trouble," Ken Spliethof says. "We are here to help."
Written by Audrey Barnes
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- More than 1,000 unreleased recordings of lectures by L. Ron Hubbard and reams of corresponding writings have been unveiled in the culmination of a 25-year project to locate, restore and transcribe lost pieces of the Scientology founder's work.
Though sure to be derided by the church's many critics, its followers say the materials amount to an opportunity to deepen understanding of the religion and to release the last known unpublished Hubbard works dealing with Scientology and Dianetics.
''It would be like discovering that Buddha, unbeknownst to anybody, had sat down and wrote down the entirety of his discoveries and it could be verified that he wrote it,'' said Tommy Davis, the church's top spokesman.
The new materials were announced in a New Year's celebration at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles that was broadcast to churches around the world last week and include 1,020 lectures and hundreds of corresponding booklets from courses and other sessions with Scientology ministers from 1953 to 1961. They include discussions of how Hubbard arrived at the principles of Dianetics and his research on everything from decision-making to personal responsibility.
They were recovered through a painstaking hunt that led members to find tapes and papers in a basement in Wichita, Kan., a storage trailer in Phoenix, and a garage in Oakland, Calif., among other places. Some of the materials were believed to have been lost.
''We've been able to restore lectures we literally never thought would be heard again,'' Davis said.
The release marks the third and final batch of Hubbard works to be distributed as part of the decades-long project initiated by Hubbard himself but carried out after his 1986 death by the church's current leader, David Miscavige. Releases in 2005 and 2007 included updated versions of 18 basic Scientology books to correct transcriptional errors, as well as hundreds of other lectures given by Hubbard.
''It's so huge for our religion having these materials. It's really a renaissance,'' said Davis. ''It's as if it's a rediscovery of our own scriptures and what they hold and what they mean.''
Bratislava, Slovakia—The Slovakia chapter of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) celebrated the 61st Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) with the launch of a new web site and a human rights walk from Old Town in Bratislava to Grassalkovich Palace, the residence of the President of Slovakia. This was part of the “International Walk for Human Rights,” where youth from countries around the world, including Australia, Austria, Barbados, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, India, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, United Kingdom the United States and Zambia, walked to raise awareness of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The new YHRI Slovakia web site at www.MladezZaLudskePrava.org features 30 public service announcements, one illustrating each of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration, available for the first time with Slovakian subtitles. The short films were produced by Youth for Human Rights International in partnership with the Church of Scientology International.
"Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe."For eight weeks, members of Youth for Human Rights International carried out the Sixth Annual Human Rights World Tour, led by Scientologist and International Association of Scientologist Freedom Medal Winner, educator Mary Shuttleworth. The Scientology Press Office interviewed Mary on what inspired her to undertake this project and what results were accomplished.
Scientology Today: You are not only the President of Youth for Human Rights, you also founded it in 2001. Why did you decide to do this?
Mary: As a young girl growing up in apartheid South Africa I saw firsthand the devastating effects of discrimination and the lack of the most basic human rights. Traveling abroad I realized that discrimination and slave-like conditions could be found far beyond the borders of my country. Children who do not know that they have human rights are vulnerable. As an educator I knew that teaching learners about human rights would be the first step for them to defend and protect not only their rights but also those of their peers.
Scientology Today: In less than a decade you have turned this idea into an international organization — Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI). What are you most proud of having accomplished?
Mary: Taking the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), an excellent but scholarly document, and depicting those rights in simple literature and videos so that anyone can quickly learn and teach the 30 articles enshrined in that document. We have brought the UDHR, a document for the people, to the people.
Scientology Today: You have just completed the 6th annual Youth for Human Rights World tour. In less than two months, you visited twelve countries. Why did you decide to do human rights world tours?
Mary: Human rights cannot be taught at people-it has to be with people. Because those rights need to relate to the people where they live, study, work and dream.
Nothing replaces meeting people and interacting with them where they live.By traveling to different countries I can see the issues people face and the outstanding efforts individuals are making to improve conditions. One face-to-face meeting accomplishes more than months of e-mails, phone calls or faxes.
This year our World Tour started in the US and wound its way through twelve countries: From Mexico to Barbados, Colombia and Argentina in the Americas, on to the Pacific and Australia and Timor-Leste (East Timor). From there we went to Jordon in the Middle East and Russia and Switzerland, and finally to Africa with Uganda and South Africa. Within the space of a couple of months, with the help of dedicated volunteers around the world, we spoke with hundreds of leaders, met thousands of students and reached millions through the media resulting in exponential expansion of global knowledge about human rights.
Scientology Today: What stands out about this year’s tour?
Mary: It was an inspiration to see how much support there is for human rights, and how many public-spirited leaders and dedicated individuals are adopting our program. United Nations officials, heads of state, ministers of education and so many other political and community leaders took it on themselves to teach human rights to the next generation as soon as they realized how easy it is to do so.
We learned the most profound lessons from the many wonderful people working hard to improve conditions with incredibly limited resources and under the poorest and most devastating conditions.
Scientology Today: What kind of impact is your campaign having on the world today?
Mary: When we started nine years ago, few people had even heard of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even high-level officials whom I interviewed did not know what their human rights were.
Today millions of people are learning about human rights through community groups, religious groups, schools and the media. Thousands of groups have incorporated the YHRI materials into their own programs.
We are making “Human Rights” buzz words!
Scientology Today: You are a Scientologist — what does this have to do with why you chose human rights as the project you wanted to create and support?
Mary: What I believe is beautifully expressed in The Creed of the Church of Scientology, which states that “Man is basically good; That he is seeking to survive; That his survival depends upon himself and upon his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe.”
I have witnessed extreme poverty and I have met children who are raising their brothers and sisters after their parents, families and even societies turned their backs on them. I have seen children dying of preventable diseases.
I have seen the effects of widespread illiteracy in the information age and I have listened to scholars discussing human rights with cold disconnect from the harsh realities faced by so many millions.
So I was inspired by L. Ron Hubbard who wrote, “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream.”Scientology Today: Is there something that stands out about this year’s tour?
Mary: I was so impressed with the grassroots level work of local YHRI teams. Watching them in action in their own communities was amazing. During one of our meetings with top officials I listened to one of the YHRI youth leaders discussing human rights. He talked about the issues and the vital role that informed youth can play to help officials handle their local problems. That country has a majority youth population -more youth than adults. I watched the profound impact he created with his insight into the situations at hand and his clear explanation of solutions that can be brought about by teaching human rights to the youth. I was so incredibly proud!
Scientology Today: Where do you plan to go from here?
Mary: We are planning our sixth annual YHRI International Summit to bring together youth from around the world to discuss human rights issues and the important role of human rights education in raising the quality of life for young and old alike. And we are already planning the YHRI World Tour 2010. The exact route is not yet set but the countries are lining up with outreach and meetings that promise, once again, to expand YHRI exponentially!
Scientology Today: Do you have a message for people reading this interview?
Mary: It’s easy to teach Human Rights. Tell your friends, your family and your neighbors. Inspire them to teach Human Rights. As a non-profit organization we need the help of likeminded people, groups and organizations to help reach people in all corners of the world so that everyone has the opportunity to learn about the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and our human rights.
Having traveled 20,000 miles since the opening of the Fort Harrison in mid March, Scientology leader David Miscavige once again officiated the ribbon cutting of yet another new Church, this one in Nashville, Tennessee-Music City, USA.
The opening of the new Church of Scientology and Celebrity Centre Nashville, just one mile from "Music Row," drew Scientologists from across the region. Also on hand were scores of local dignitaries, residents and Hollywood celebrities. Among those who addressed the gathering were Grammy-winning composer and musician Mark Isham and actresses Anne Archer and Jenna Elfman.
Then again, speaking to the broader significance of a Church of Scientology in the heart of Music City, Mr. Miscavige dedicated the new Church:
"The new Ideal Org and Celebrity Centre signals great things for tomorrow. And when you couple that with our ability to recover to individuals their inherent creativity, our ability to reawaken dreams and restore the power to achieve those dreams, yes, we can now make good on what L. Ron Hubbard tells us regarding the artist as creating the beauty and glory on which cultures depend.
"And that's both what this new Church represents and why we have come to Nashville. For while Nashville is known as the heart and soul of American music, let her now fulfill her destiny and write a song that will uplift every man."
With that, the ribbon was cut and the new Church in Music City, USA, opened to all to begin writing that new song.
The Church’s human rights initiative is aimed at bringing about global awareness through 30 PSAs, one for each article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the film The Story of Human Rights.
Central to Scientology beliefs is a conviction that all humankind is entitled to inalienable rights. So it is that for more than 50 years Scientologists have championed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Today, the Church of Scientology sponsors the largest non-governmental information campaign to make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights known the world over.
The Church’s human rights initiative sponsors groups and activities and provides its materials to individuals, groups and government agencies in 82 nations. This includes:
Overview of results:
Scientology Volunteer Ministers, Nick and Erin, traveled to Kolkata, India in an effort to make a difference.
Every year, 26 million children reach school age in India. With this, the problem of education in a severely overcrowded school system becomes even more unmanageable. Despite increased school enrollment, some estimate that as many as 50% of India’s children do not attend school. That’s more than 150 million kids.
Time to bring out the Volunteer Ministers! As Church of Scientology leader, David Miscavige, described the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program: “The final word, as regards our front-line work bringing our help wherever and whenever needed is our corps of Scientology Volunteer Ministers — on call, 24 hours a day in scores of nations.”
“Slumdog Millionaire opened our eyes to the horrible conditions in India. We decided to go there and volunteer in the slums and we funded it ourselves,” said Erin.
“We thought if we could bring help there to some of the children who had no formal education and no real hope in life, at least that would be doing something about it,” said Nick.
While in India, Nick and Erin documented their work in the slums to communicate an accurate view of living conditions in India. “We wanted to let people back home know what it’s REALLY like living here, and through raising awareness get more help to the people here, especially the children,” reflected Nick.
These two young Scientology Volunteer Ministers helped teach English and mathematics to the slum children. They used study technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard to helping the kids improve their learning.
“Mr. Hubbard discovered that the first barrier to study is not having the real thing there that you are studying about. The real things or the object that you study are called mass,” said Erin “So, for example, we made sure the kids had things they could actually count with, 5 little wooden blocks lets say that represented the number 5, so they didn’t have to do it all in their heads. They liked that!”
“Conditions here are the worst of the worst,” they wrote to their friends. “It’s been just a continual amazement to both of us that there have been such magical moments, and bright smiling faces in amongst everything else. With all that’s going on in the world it can be very easy to get wrapped up in one’s own problems,” they continued. “The truth is that there are so many people in need of help and with far worse conditions than most can possible imagine. We decided to turn our efforts toward others for a few months and make a difference.”
For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program visit their web site at www.volunteerministers.org or the Scientology Video Channel.
