Harry Potter Alliance supports education of refugees
Campaign has started in Möhnesee as well
Möhnesee. Vera Beckers can’t remember if it was the Prisoner of Azkaban or the Goblet of Fire that made her a Harry Potter fan. That doesn’t really matter. What matters, however, is the Harry Potter Principle which J. K. Rowling invented: To fight evil with good. Even Erich Kästner said that there is no good unless you do it yourself. And that’s what Vera Beckers does. She is part of the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) which organizes fan activism around the world and consist of 264,000 fans*. This Alliance, which believe in good, starts bigger and smaller campaigns to make this world a better place.
“Even if we can only take small steps, those are still improvements”, Vera Becker points out. Last year, the Harry Potter Alliance even centered their campaign around a primary school in Soest. And the group around lake Möhnesee, which is build around Vera, her brother Peter and her friend Miriam Michel, even built a geocaching route. With their help, more than 450 books could be donated to Astrid Lindgren Schule [school] in the South of Soest last year. “We know that those books are read and loved every day and that’s amazing”, Vera Becker says.
This spring, there will be a similar campaign. From April 2nd to June 2nd, the Harry Potter fans ask to donate school supplies which will go to children of refugees. The goal of this project is to make it easier for children to enjoy school and hopefully open up their way to a better education. The Harry Potter Alliance collects pens, notebooks and everything else that could be useful, even games to make learning not only easier, but more fun as well. “If you want to join, please leave your donations in the bookstore Rittersche Buchhandlung in Möhnesee-Körbecke”, Vera Beckers asks and hopes to collect as many supplies as possible to make learning the German language for these children a little easier.
Helpful supplies could be picture books with words in both their native language and German. “We need smart children. And talking, reading, writing, drawing - and communicating what you want to tell is necessary to be successful in life”, Vera Beckers tells. The 24-year-old is excited that with Accio Books, more than 53,000* books were donated to people in need.
The author of the Harry Potter books, J. K. Rowling, is thankful for these unusual campaigns. She sees the Harry Potter Alliance as Dumbleldore’s Army in our world and likes the idea a lot.
If you want to get to know more: The website is thehpalliance.org and if you want to reach Vera Beckers via email: [email protected]
* Some of the numbers mentioned in the article are wrong. The number of HPA members mentioned is the number of people who have liked the HPA facebook page. There probably are more members
Can you still remember the happiness you felt when you read about Harry Potter going to Hogwarts for the first time? How did you feel reading about the greatest school for witchcraft and wizardry? And did you secretly compare your own school to Hogwarts, too?
Everyone of us has their own experiences when it comes to school and education. The most important thing however, looking at the good and bad times we had or are still having at school, is that we realize that education is important and can be something very wonderful.
This year, with ACCIO BOOKS, we want to support pupils who had to flee from their home country and are going to a German school for the first time. The changes those pupils are going through are never easy. That’s why we want to help their families and hope that they at least won’t have to worry about getting all new school supplies. We are working together with the refugee home WOHNHEIM LITZOWSTRASSE in Hamburg in the north of Germany. Up to 110 people are able to stay in this emergency shelter.
THE CAMPAIGN
We are collecting school supplies such as
... pens
... notebook or exercise books
... school bags
... rules, scissors and glue
... and everything else that will make a start at a new school a little bit easier.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
A. FOO NETWORK: Get all the school supplies you can donate and come to our meet up in Hamburg which will be happening on May 30th. We will collect everything and spend a great time together.
B. DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY: You can’t make it to Hamburg? No worries. There will be lots of local meet ups where you can donate the school supplies you’ve collected. Please check the list in our Facebook group to see where a meet up will take place close to you.
C. OWL POST: You can’t make it to Hamburg and there are only Muggles living in your area? Fear not, send us an owl. Write a message to [email protected] and you’ll get the Burrow’s address to which you can send your donations.
