An unfortunate byproduct of an earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sumatra, the late December tsunami decimated 14 countries, slamming the west and north coasts of Banda Aceh the hardest. Over 600 VMs from 28 nations mobilized immediately and traveled to India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia to help with anything anyone needed. They worked in refugee camps, distributed supplies to the homeless, identified the dead and provided solace to the survivors by administering Scientology assists. It was a daunting task. The VMs stood up to the challenge and the President of the Church of Scientology of Australia accepted multiple awards on behalf of the VMs, including one from the Banda Aceh Department of Religion which stated: “Your help changed the lives of our population.”
