John Travolta delivers aid and Scientologists to Haiti in his private Boeing 707

To the rescue: John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston wave from the cockpit of his Boeing 707 as they fly supplies into Haiti

As a qualified pilot with a private jet parked on his front lawn, John Travolta was able to take direct action to help the people of earthquake-hit Haiti.

The multi-millionaire actor flew his Boeing 707 to bolster disaster relief with six tons of aid in the form of ready-to-eat military rations and medical supplies.

But he also ferried another cargo to the impovershed island struggling to get back on its feet 14 days after terror struck - a group of yellow-shirted Scientologists.

The Church has already dispatched hundreds of its members to help with aid effforts

The group, which critics say is a cult doing little more than glorified massage, has received a mixed reaction to the light 'touching', through clothing and bandages, of fractures and infection.

Travolta, a leading Scientologist along with Tom Cruise, flew from Florida with his wife Kelly Preston as impatience with food distribution sparked a small riot in front of the national palace.

Aid has been building up at the airport as hundreds of planes await permission to land at the overcrowded airport - which can handle just 130 flights a day.
After dropping his consignment of aid and Scientologists, Travolta returned to the U.S.

'We have the ability to actually help make a difference in the situation in Haiti and I just can't see not using this plane to help,' Travolta said


Loving healing: A Scientologist in a yellow shirt touches a patient at a hospital in Port-au-Prince but some have questioned the success of their methods


Dressed in their distinctive T-shirts, Church members use a process called 'assist' in which the power of touch is said to reconnect nervous systems shaken by trauma.

'Our volunteers are coming from all over. From Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.S., everywhere,' said Frank Suarez, from Puerto Rico, as colleagues set up a camp at a gymnasium. 'The need is huge here.'

'All the patients are happy with the technique,' a volunteer named only as Silvie told AFP. 'But some doctors don't like the yellow T-shirts. It's a colour thing.'

She claimed 22-year-old student Oscar Elweels, whose right leg had been amputated below the right kne


Organised approach: A Scientologist at the reception of the general hospital in Port-au-Prince tries to help staff with patients and visitors

'One hour ago he had no sensation in his left leg, so I explained the method to him, I touched him and after a while he said "now I feel everything",' she said. 'Otherwise they might have had to amputate his other leg.'

One U.S. doctor, who declined to be named, poured scorn on the techniques.

'I didn't know touching could heal gangrene,' he said.

When asked about the Scientologists, an Oxfam spokesperson said: 'All aid agencies need to co-ordinate and ensure help that is given reaches benchmark standards and follow best practice.'


Help is at hand: Scientologists stick posters advertising their services to a room in the general hospital in the capital


There are still delays in getting aid to the country, where only 10,000 of a needed 200,000 tents have arrived, leaving many to shelter under grubby sheets in settlement camps.

President Rene Preval announced he would move into a tent on the lawn of the collapsed palace in solidarity with hundreds of thousands left homeless by the magnitude 7 quake on January 12.

A daily handout of rice and soy oil in front of the palace degenerated into chaos on Monday when 4,000 people overwhelmed Uruguayan UN troops in charge of the distribution.

They pepper sprayed and fired rubber bullets in the air from an armoured vehicle.


source: dailymail