Most of you who have listened to some of the HPA’s podcasts on Darfur are familiar with Sifa Nsengimana, who speaks about human rights in such a way that I’ve never really heard someone so inspiring on the subject. Sifa is Rwandan and in 1994 her entire extended family was killed in the Rwandan Tutsi genocide which claimed nearly 1 million lives in 100 days. Sifa longs for peace and justice and now is the Executive Director of the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV). Seriously, check out ASYV right here.

ASYV recently opened it’s doors to young men and women aged 14 to 18 who will be living there for the next four years. Most of these young people have endured the killing of one or both of their parents back in 1994. ASYV is not what you would call a typical “orphanage.” Based off a village that was built in Israel after the Holocaust, ASYV takes a very innovative and effective approach toward working on restoring hope, love, and nurturing in the hearts of Rwandan young people. It’s really, really incredible.

One of the volunteers at ASYV is Sarah Newberry. While most of you may not have heard Sarah’s name before, Sarah sits on the HPA’s Board of Directors and has been one of the most influential people in helping to found and advise the direction of the HPA. A music therapist who loves Harry Potter, Sarah just moved to Rwanda in the last month to work at ASYV for the next year. I just called her on her cell phone (thank you Skype) to wish Sarah a Happy New Year and it was so exciting. The kids were putting on a talent show in celebration of New Year’s (it was almost midnight there) and I could hear what felt like hundreds of people including Sarah, laughing hysterically. It was pretty awesome.

I’m not sure if the HPA will have a partnership with ASYV or not. But a couple of ideas to put out there:

1- Starting a pen pal program between the kids at ASYV and our membership
2- Starting a book drive to send copies of Harry Potter to these kids, many of whom are quickly learning to read English

What do you think? Does this sound like something you all would want to be part of?

Well it’s not Christmas, but I think New Years is also pretty relevant for one of the best movies ever. Get your tissues ready:

People from everywhere joining together to stand up for a person and a cause they believe in, in celebration. Harry Potter has it’s share of scenes like this as well. Even when things didn’t look good for Harry, miracles happened. They happen at every moment. May our 2009 be full of miracles. Happy and Healthy New Year!

The HP Alliance is committed to literacy. After all, we are named after a book. And awesome!, according to this reading is not on the decline as many of us think:

“We read much more now than we did in the ’50s. In 1957, 17 percent of people surveyed in a Gallup poll said they were currently reading a book; in 1990, over twice as many did. In 1953, 40 percent of people polled by Gallup could name the author of Huckleberry Finn; in 1990, 51 percent could. In 1950, 8,600 new titles were published; in 1981, almost five times as many.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Sadly these days we are seeing the amazing short sighted knee jerk reactions of collective egos or Muggle Mindsets, waging war in Israel and Palestine. The conflict there is normally tense and full of pain and loss but now it has become full fledged insanity. . And it saddens me so very much that this is happening right now and I’m hoping that the potential cease fire mentioned in the linked article, happens.

Let’s hope and pray to get past the insanity of the ego-fueled “Muggle Mindset.” We are seeing what it does right now. Though we aren’t getting the full picture, the full scope of the tragedy. Of what armor is built around the hearts of children and adults when they are living in the reality of obscene violence. And what happens to those injured and killed and to their families.

Let’s send our love and our prayers there to those we don’t know and to those we know. Read the rest of this entry »

Summary of post: “I’d like to gather 100 people in Central Park to all get out their cell phones and call the same company that puts us on hold and plays that stupid music over and over again. And then we all put our cell phones on speaker and just dance and dance to the music!”

Now the rest of this post, I warn you, is a rant where I confess some embarrassing things about myself and why I hate being on hold. Rant starts once you click on this option to read more: Read the rest of this entry »

Nicholas Kristoff writes a NY Times piece which gives tangible things that the US can do to help the situation in Darfur, get the Sudanese government to hand over President Bashir, and to prevent a horrific war between the north and south of Sudan. Interestingly he mentions in the article that China is supporting Bashir’s regime less and less.

Here’s the article. (you may need to do a free sign up for the NY Times, but it’s not a big deal and probably worth it)

I think this person’s idea was quite brilliant. They’ve gone into a great story and they’ve taken out a great speech about the power of stories with a montage of great moments in stories. Modern myths actually. You can view the video here. Please share any thoughts on this video and how we could encourage the making of mashup videos like this one?

In the mean time, check out the original video and let me ask you this: what Harry Potter scene do you envision this speech being necessary to give? And what character do you envision giving it?

One of our chapter organizers just let me know of the following movie about a courageous young man living with Muscular Dystrophy. The story sounds so inspiring and so far it’s raised 1.5 million dollars for research. Please check it out and join the facebook group here.

Okay, so the last two posts were about all of the many holidays happening right now and how everyone’s experiences are different in this time. So how were/are your holidays?

Commenter Ruth in the below entry reminded me that I forgot to mention one of my favorite holidays: Festivus. This is my first Christmas not in Minnesota with my former girl friend’s wonderful family watching that glorious Seinfeld episode that has brought light to us all. Thank you Ruth for reminding me! And a Happy Festivus one and all! And no, I’m in no mood for Feats of Strength as I haven’t done a proper work out in weeks. But as for an airing of grievances, oy, have I got grievances! Enjoy the below clip and thanks again Ruth!

More extended clip below. Read the rest of this entry »