Scientology Volunteer Minister Brings New Hope to Kenyan Inmates
The staff at the Siaya Government of Kenya Prison swear by the Volunteer Minister Program for the remarkable change they have seen in the inmates.
It began over a year ago when Scientology Volunteer Minister (VM) Daniel Okello held his first seminar for 200 inmates. Okello covered two chapters—“Honesty and Integrity” and “How to Resolve Conflicts”—from The Scientology Handbook, the textbook for the program based on the works of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. “At the start, the prisoners looked depressed,” says Okello. Then he noticed them smiling and laughing as they learned about moral codes and saw how their crimes had affected their lives. The prison commander asked Okello to come back to train the prison officers and deliver to 300 more inmates. Soon, the officers established their own VM group. They trained on courses from the 19 chapters of The Scientology Handbook and began helping the inmates with the material they learned. This included treating them with dignity and upgrading the prison environment with cleanups.
Siaya Prison held an Open Day when officials visit and prisoners are free to interact with them and with family members. The prison commander addressed the Siaya County Commissioner, high court judges, police captains and other senior officials and introduced them to the VM program. He described the role of the Volunteer Ministers, the partnership between the program and the prison and the results achieved. The commander credited the change in the prison to the VM training of officers and inmates. The High Court Registrar confirmed his claims, saying that for the previous three months there was not a single case of someone released from the prison being rearrested.
Prison officials continue providing personal help to inmates based on the skills they have learned. In a recent seminar, the officers demonstrated to the inmates how to help each other by giving Scientology assists—techniques developed by Mr. Hubbard that speed healing by addressing the spiritual factors in stress and trauma. They delivered to 12 injured inmates and all 12 had relief. Okello met with the Siaya VM group leaders, who have now resolved to hold monthly clinics at the prison where they will provide assists and continue to use VM technology to counsel inmates.
TAKING ACTION
Join Our Disaster Response Team
Any day of the year can be “disaster season” somewhere in the world. Be it hurricanes on the East Coast of the United States, wildfires in California, tsunamis in Indonesia or earthquakes in Nepal, there are people suffering right now who need your help.
As Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard described the program, “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.”
We invite you to volunteer with us in responding to disasters in all parts of the world. There is nothing more gratifying than helping others.
The training is simple, online and free. You don’t have to be a Scientologist to join the effort—you just need to have a desire to help. Contact us for further details on how to do the training and join in this vital global movement.
HELP RESTORE HOPE
Volunteer Ministers are on call across the globe and around the clock to respond to any and every disaster. Your contribution will fund volunteers’ travel as well as food, water, tents and medical supplies for disaster victims.
