UEA ON PROGRESS

William R. Harmon, the U.S. Chief Delegate from the Universala Esperanto-Asocio, has prepared the following letter for distribution. I think that it deserves publication here as well.

The Universal Esperanto Association (UEA) was founded in 1908 as an organization of individual Esperantists. Now UEA has members in 113 countries, and works not only to promote Esperanto, but to stimulate discussion of the world language problem and to call attention to the necessity of equality among languages. The By-Laws of UEA state the following four goals:

• to promote the use of the international language Esperanto

• to act for the solution of the language problem in international relations and to facilitate international communication

• to encourage all types of spiritual and material relations among people, irrespective of differences of nationality, race, sex, religion, politics, or language

• to nurture among its members a strong sense of solidarity, and to develop in them understanding and respect for other peoples.

In recent years, UEA has greatly increased its activities in areas where there historically has been little Esperanto activity. In Africa, for example, there are now classes or clubs in Benin, Burundi, Chad, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo DR, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Togoland and Zimbabwe. UEA’s Afrika Komisiono oversees and assists using funds from UEA’s Africa Fund.
Without UEA, this would not have happened.

In Asia there has been an explosion of activity recently. With the assistance of the Azia Komisiono under the presidency of Hori Yasuo of Japan, new organizations are now active in Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Cambodia, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The Asia Commission recently underwrote a visit of several months in the Philippines by a young Nepali Esperantist, Bharat Ghimire, who not only initiated classes — some at university level — but also instigated the creation of a new Pilipina-English-Esperanto dictionary and new textbooks.
Without UEA, this would not have happened.

UEA administers the long-established worldwide Delegate Network with the help of Chief Delegates in 90 countries. There are currently 1900 delegates worldwide, with 91 in the United States. (And, as Chief Delegate, I am quite proud of this group.)

It is of course important to be active locally as an Esperantist — teach in or support local classes, attend local club meetings, participate in joint activities with educational organizations. But it is also important to support the promotion of Esperanto worldwide. Your membership in UEA will help. If you are a current member, please renew your membership through ELNA. An “aliĝilo” is enclosed in this mailing. If you are not a member of UEA now, please consider joining in this very important work by becoming a member at whatever level you can. The Membro-Abonanto (MA) level is recommended, as you receive the monthly magazine Esperanto which will keep you up to date on Esperanto activities worldwide, as well as the annual Jarlibro. The Membro-Jarlibro (MJ) category only includes the Jarlibro, but makes you a full individual member of UEA.