The South African Scientology field is being treated to some history lessons from some of its most illustrious members. While the church is busily trying to black PR the Joburg 18, they are simply sending out their stories. Anyone with half a brain can read this and the letter from Gaye Corbett and know without a shadow of a doubt “This is no SP, in fact, if someone declared her and her husband they are either insane or a sociopath.”
Thank you for standing tall Wendy and all the rest of the Joburg 18 and friends.
There was an old term “Founding Scientologist” reserved for those who had been involved in the very earliest years and had helped nurture the subject to adulthood. It is ironic that on Veteran’s Day we are reminded how little respect is afforded those whose shoulders today’s generation stand on. Miscavige era corporate Scientologists look upon these people with disdain (just peruse that list of the Joburg 18 again for proof) — they are reminders of a kinder, gentler Scientology that is anathema to the 21st century Vulture Culture that circles the few that have not yet been reduced to skeletons.
But I would wager that it is good people like Wendy and many who came before her and will follow saying “I have seen enough, I am not going to take this any more” that will ultimately bring about the badly needed reform and end the abuses perpetrated in the name of Scientology.
Hello to you all,
I am Wendy Bowman, one of the Jo’burg 18 who have been cast aside as an “untouchable”!
Little do they know the joy in our hearts that we are experiencing to be free to think, do and express how we feel without the shackles of the church limiting all.
Luckily I decided some time ago to operate independently.
With the help of some wonderful terminals that I have found outside the church who have given me the most incredible encouragement, validation and guidance, I have gotten myself back in the chair after 25 years absence and suppression of my ability, and am having the most remarkable wins as an auditor, and my pc’s wins are spectacular.
It is a joy to be winning in my newly created theta environment with such wonderful friends and family around me.
As some of you may already know, for a long time now I have been deeply concerned that LRH’s Tech and Policy has been steadily degraded and altered as the years go by. All reports I have made up to RTC have been ignored.
And for those who are still in doubt, you have to ask yourself ‘How come this is being allowed?’
Like so many others before me, it was the dreadful things that those within the church were doing that made me go into doubt; and then the revelation came, via the net, that I was not alone and that so much worse has been happening than I had ever imagined, and once I discovered that it gave me the courage to make the break and search for a satisfactory future SCN path for me and those I love.
That being said, here is my story:
In November, 1960 Alan Bowman was on his HPA at Fitzroy Street, London, having discovered Scientology in 1957 through a friend in his home town Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
One morning on his way to course, he saw me on the tube train and picked me up (literally) from a very dire place having spotted me as a likely prospect to rescue. He radically changed my life that day and gave me Scientology.
In the summer of 1961 I routed onto my HPA. In October that year Alan and I got married and we left for South Africa the next day. We both joined Joburg staff in 1962 holding various tech posts on and off through the 60’s. In ’63 we had 60 students in the Academy during the day, more at night! ( and today…. Oh dear … !!) We both had our Power Processing 1966
We spent many happy hours in the Jaffe Franchise in the early 70’s where we did our Student Hat, HSDC and PRO TRS, and received our Dianetics and EXP Grades to EP.
In 1972, we took our your family to East Grinstead where we lived for three years while we both audited up to OT III Expanded and at the same time I did the PRD, Academy levels, and XDN Course, plus interships, plus SHSBC and routed onto staff as C/S for the student auditors; while Alan did his SHSBC on FDN and worked during the day to support our family.
In 1975, we returned to Port Elizabeth, and became the major tech terminals for the PE Org for ten years, auditing and C/Sing. In ’78 we became NED auditors; In 1981 Alan did OT VI & V and we both did the HRD + internship and I was posted as ED for PE. In ’83 I did OT VI & V. Up to this point all our SCN activities were exciting and full of happiness.
But in 1983 things began to change. The tech started to be altered and I became worried that LRH was not on the line. I noticed he was no longer writing personal letters to me regarding my adaption of the tech for use in my Drama School as he had before. We started to receive quotas that were utterly impossible to achieve, and despite rising graphs, continual harassment came down the lines. Eventually a mission arrived in PE and embarked on a wild bait and badger session with me which resulted in my removal from the ED post having put my head on the pike for… (I still don’t know what!) and the mission retired to JBG.
I was replaced by one of our auditors. But 3 days later our newly posted ED refused to come to the ORG. She’d collapsed under the pressure of the post and resigned. On reporting this to CO FOLO and pointing out that I was all they had, she agreed , so I went back as Acting ED which I held for a further 2 years.
In 1985 we moved to Joburg, where I Sup’d for JBGN for a while, we both audited the JBGN staff, and I did the Senior Sec Checker’s and FPRD courses at JBG.
In 1986 we joined the SO. Alan was recruited to establish an AO in AF and I was to become an RTC Tech/Qual terminal for the orgs in Africa. I was routed to Flag for training, and Alan launched into AO plans, but once within the SO we were both rapidly disillusioned of our original agreed upon purposes.
At Flag, once I proved myself as a good auditor on my NED & Senior Sec Checker’s internships, HCO put out an order stating that I was placed on the Permanent Flag TTC line-up to be a FLAG Class IX auditor and if anyone removed me from this line-up they would be declared! When I protested and said that I had no intentions of staying at Flag because my husband is in SA, the Qual Sec told me to divorce Alan who was suppressive and find someone better at Flag, and the CO, Ron Norton, told me that that order included myself and if I left Flag he would personally see that I would be denied all my upper levels.
Although I was delivering high volume VWD hours in the chair, the stress and threats became so heavy that I became very PTS and thus very ill, and finally I was put into an ethics project, forbidden to talk to my daughter, who was also at Flag, and given Sec checking. They had taken my return ticket from me on arrival, so I had no way of getting home. I have never felt so effect or utterly trapped. Eventually I secretly went to the CMO Justice Chief to ask for help. He was my life saver, for he contacted CLO AF and liaised with them to pay for a ticket and helped me leave without anyone on Flag staff knowing, even my daughter, which for me was a terrible overt, because afterwards she told me that if she had known she would have come with me. How PTS can one go???
However on arrival in SA, I was immediately sent to relieve Alan on mission in Durban so he could return to his AO project. … so we still were not together! On completion of the Durban mission we were both sent to on a garrison mission in PE Org to get it out of insolvency. Once again we boomed PE over the next 6 months driving the stats into 5x and turning out highest ever auditors made, and we were happy.
However, it was not to last … before we had a chance to stabilize PE, we were called to CLO in Joburg, and the PE Org rapidly crashed back to insolvency after we left.
At CLO we were placed on garrison mission in JBG ORG- Alan as ED and I as OES. Although our stats were good, neither of us were happy there … the continual harassment, invalidation, screaming seniors, endless belittlement of the public, wrong indications, wrong conditions being enforced, wrong diet, insufficient sleep, terrifying targets … we both ended up going utterly PTS. We both left in late ’88. We were considered pariah and weren’t even allowed to attend events (though we were not declared). That took some months to recover from and I am amazed that I didn’t question more then. I’d certainly seen the light and yet I clung to the fact that the guys at the top would somehow get it right!! Oh, dear, what a mistake!
Anyway in the years since then we remained members of the church and were active members of various OTCs. I devoted many hours to assisting people through Ethics cycles and recovering them back onto training wherever I could.
But my doubts grew and with every course I did after I started to notice changes in HCOBs & PLs that were issued after LRH died. I refused to do GAT 1 as I considered it was a gross invalidation all previous training done per LRH’s checksheets both for myself and all other auditors. Alan and I did do the PTS/SP and Ethics Specialist courses, the Data Evaluators Course and all the BASICS and then I did SOLO 1 Retread, but finally stopped going on Org lines because I kept finding KSW & Tech degrade violations … I protested all, reported most over the years, but with failing enthusiasm as each was ignored by RTC. However, I steadily collected them.
When the Ideal Org scheme got under way our initial willingness steadily began to wane as the demands became more intense, until we simply said ‘no more’… Again such a violation of LRH’s viewpoints… Where’s the theta gone?!!!
I felt I could do nothing about it .. what else could I do? Then the answer came … In December, 2011 Hero and Chris Dresser gave us Debbie Cook’s letter to read and it immediately indicated all the by passed charge I had been accumulating because it reflected so much of my own experiences, and what’s more she was a person I actually knew and had grown to like and trust when I was at Flag.
I then got busy and started to search for another way to handle all this. I had come to realise that no help was going to be forthcoming within the Church so made it my business to steadfastly revise my rusty tech and to find safe terminals who I was certain I could trust who could help me expand my ability to apply LRH’s data for expansion up the Bridge as LRH intended … that I have found … I have no doubts about this … and I have really discovered who my true friends are through travelling this journey.
And now I’m declared for attempting to enlighten people regarding violations to KSW and Tech Degrades. And Alan, although not declared has resigned from the church.
So here we are Scientologists, real veterans, with over a century’s worth of Scientology experience behind us and much to come in the future.
It is with much love that I validate all those who have shown me such kindness and caring both within my loving family and among my wonderful friends … thank you to all of you
And I know Alan feels the same
Much love, Wendy and Alan