On April 29 [name deleted] a friend of mine and an ASHO Sea Org member, currently on a maternity leave, was informed by the CEO receptionist that her son [name deleted] had Herpes. She asked me to drive to the CEO with her. When we arrived we were told he was in sick bay.
We
went to the sick bay which had, I think, eight children in it. These
children were all being mistreated. I do not mean medically, only, I
mean mistreated in the sense of abused.
I observed the following:
- Sick children were being diagnosed by the MO; as it turned out they were misdiagnosed by the MO.
- [The son] was forced to work while ill. He was supposed to be looking after the other sick children.
- The children were not being sent to a doctor — for reasons of FP [financial planning].
- The space was filthy and inadequate.
- The sick children had no beds; they were lying on a concrete floor.
- There was no adult supervision of these ill children.
- Children suffering from different contagious diseases were all in the same space.
- The children were dirty and un-hygienic.
We
talked to the MO at length. [The son], it turned out, had complained of
other symptoms (sore head, eyes and throat). The MO said he only had
one sore in his mouth and was not sick. Apparently when he asked the MO
if he could lie down, the MO said he was not sick and had to stay on
post, looking after the other children. I also discovered that the MO
had received no money from ASHO for the care of ASHO children and
therefore there was no money to send the kids to the doctor. All he was
doing was giving the children vitamins for their illnesses.
The
"sick bay" was an approximately 5 x 18 foot screened off porch area
outdoors, with a concrete floor. One of the children, a three-year-old,
was lying on a very thin kitchen mat, on the floor. Others were
bare-foot on the concrete floor.
The MO told us that if [mother] wanted her son to go to the doctor, she would have to go to ASHO and put in a PO.
I told him that all the children who had not seen a doctor should do
so, as he was not qualified to diagnose illness. At this point he became
antagonistic and said they did not need a doctor and he did not want to
discuss it further. I said to [mother] that the conditions in the sick
bay were atrocious and if he [the Medical Officer] was not going to do
anything about it, I was going to call the Board of Health.
The MO said, of course, that what I was doing was a suppressive act,
as indeed, it is per policy. I replied that what he was doing to those
children was a suppressive act, and left. We went to ASHO to put in a
rush PO. After waiting, I became concerned about [the son] and told his
mother that I would pay for his medicine and that they could pay me
later. Doctor Victoria Samler diagnosed [son] as having Vincent's disease
(a bacterial infection of the mouth), an eye infection and inflamed
tonsils; also a vitamin B and C deficiency. She prescribed an antibiotic
and eye drops.
To paraphrase what happened in the days that followed, the Guardian's Officeterminals
were called in because of my "threat". At first they were more anxious
that I withdraw my threat than handling the children, but I think they
realized that my true intention was to help. I maintained my position
(the "threat" seemed to be the only leverage that would get anything
done about the children) and visited the Child Care Org daily.
The next day all the children were taken to the doctor. As far as I know the MO is inEthics, the AG was asked for a report on the situation by his seniors, ASHO finally came through with some money for the CCOfor
the first time in weeks, and the AG has assured me, that the children
will generally be better cared for. I was also told that Jane Kember was
in the process of doing an eval on the Child Care Org. In view of this I
fail to see how the danger condition in the sick bay persisted during
the past two weeks.
I
am pleased that the above has happened, but one battle does not the war
win. I began to look at other Sea Org kids and made the following
observations:
They are not receiving an adequate education.
One six year old couldn't even read simple words (and, but).
The quarters smell. Dirty.
The children are almost all dirty. Many run around naked.
There
is a terrible lack of dental care, evidenced by the dirty teeth of some
children I saw. I assume they have never seen a dentist.
There is a lack of quality and qualified personnel to look after the kids. People that are on the RPF are sent to look after the kids. Lack of stable terminals for kids.
Unhatted personnel, not interested in the post.
This
is all symptomatic of a general attitude that children are less
important than posts. During my battle with the Child Care Org and GO terminals, I had to quote very simple, basic, almost self-explanatory, LRHtech
such as "Insist that when a person is ill they get medical treatment"
(The Way to Happiness) "When children become unimportant to society, etc
(SOS). Children are our future, etc. I find it a sad indictment that
this was necessary even.
As
I said earlier, this has been an ongoing situation for years. It places
Scientology at risk, as has been evidenced by flaps that have occurred
in the past, and places Scientologists at risk, in that it poses a very
real danger for the children, in many ways. For instance, I saw children
playing in the parking lot at the Child Care Org. I know that one child
was killed doing this at Flag a few years ago. There is the added factor of what this kind of lack of concern does to the children.
Something
must be done to terminatedly handle this situation. If we are to forge
the new civilization, let it be civilized. Let us be civilized enough to
care for those who trust us with their lives. Perhaps there is existing
policy, but it is not enforced, here or at Flag. Perhaps it needs to be
re-evaluated. In any case, in order for any policy to be followed,
there has to be a drastic re-evaluation of priorities in the Church.
Children are a priority. They are our future. They do deserve more from
us.
It is my hope that effective change in this area will soon come about.
Sincerely,
[name deleted]
Class VI, OT IV
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