For the period 4 September 2016 – 12 November 2017
Presented at the Annual General Meeting of the Esperanto Federation of NSW, 12 November 2017, by the president, Jonathan Cooper
Governance
From the 2016 AGM until 30 July 2017, the board consisted of:
President: Jonathan Cooper
Vice president: Dmitry Lushnikov
Secretary: Nicole Else
Treasurer: Alan Turvey
Other board members: John Casey, Richard Delamore
On 1 August 2017, John Casey resigned. At the board meeting of 6 August 2017, Andrew Spannenberg was appointed as replacement board member until the AGM in November.
Events
Apart from the regular monthly Sunday meetings, the Federation held one “pizza night” nearly every month (usually on a Saturday). These tended to attract younger people than the Sunday meetings, including those interested in Esperanto but who were not (yet) speakers. On average, 15 people attended. Most evenings were preceded by a brief Esperanto lesson, by Richard Delamore. The Pizza night on 29 April was also the official launch of the smartphone app, Amikumu.
A special event was held at Esperanto House on Wednesday, 19 July 2017. Norbert Bludau, an Esperantist from Germany, spoke about the contemporary art exhibition Dokumenta 14 in Kassel, Germany. Approximately 10 people attended.
On Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October 2016, the Federation’s artist-in-residence, Benjamin Forster, staged his video art work, “Kelkaj Fragmentoj” on the ground floor of Esperanto House, as part of the Performance Space’s Liveworks Festival. Upstairs the Federation staged an exhibition about Esperanto. A total of 101 people visited over the two days.
The Federation celebrated Zamenhof Day on Saturday, 17 December 2016. Approx. 15 people attended.
Following the Australian Esperanto Congress and Summer School in Brisbane in January 2017, the famous French Esperanto singer, jOmO (Jean-Marc LECLERCQ), visited Sydney at the invitation of the Federation. Three events were held:
- 18 January, at Esperanto House: about 15 people attended
- 20 January, at the home of Alan Turvey and Jo Cho, Fountaindale: about 30 people attended
- 21 January, at Redfern Community Centre: about 50 people attended
A 9-week course, “Sharpen your brain”, led by new Federation member Sammy Lee, was to be held at Esperanto House on Wednesdays between 2pm to 4pm, starting on 20 September. It was to include the recommendation that people learn Esperanto. However due to insufficient numbers the course concluded after the second session.
Language Festivals
Language festivals, organised by the Language Festival Association and sponsored by the Federation, were held as follows:
- 8–9 Oct 2016: Sydney LF, Korean Cultural Centre, Sydney
- 12 Nov 2016: Ryde LF, West Ryde Library
- 3 Dec 2016: Central Coast LF, Erina Centre, Erina
- 11 Feb 2017: Manly LF, Manly Library
- 11 Mar 2017: Parramatta LF, Information and Cultural Exchange, Parramatta
- 8 Apr 2017: Canada Bay LF, Concord Library
- 6 May 2017: Liverpool LF, Liverpool Library
- 15 Jul 2017: Hunters Hill LF, Gladesville Road Community Centre, Hunters Hill
- 9 Sep 2017: Ryde LF, West Ryde Library
- 25 Oct 2017: Waverley LF, Waverley Library, Bondi Junction
Roger Springer: Lifetime member
On 6 November 2016 the Federation agreed to grant Roger Springer lifetime membership, in recognition of his years of service to the Federation and to the Esperanto movement in general. This was conferred to him, in absentia, at the Zamenhof Day celebration. We hope that Roger will eventually decide to rejoin our regular meetings.
Book service (Libroservo)
The Libroservo books upstairs at Esperanto House were originally believed by Jonathan Cooper, on advice from others outside the Board, to be the property of Australian Esperanto Association. However, according to an email from Dianne Lukes (ex-president of AEA) to Alan Turvey (16 December 2008), ownership was transferred from AEA to the Federation, probably in 2009.
New ramp for Esperanto House
For those who have difficulty getting into Esperanto House because of the concrete steps, we now have a two-piece temporary ramp. It can be found under the orange sofa. If you need to use it to enter the property, please ring the electric buzzer next to the front gate.
New Logo
In November 2017, many independent graphic designers around the world were invited, via the website 48HourLogo.com, to submit a design for a new logo for the Federation. From 30 designs submitted the board selected the winning design, which is shown at the top of page 1 of this document.
Guest room
The guest room was occupied a total of 63 nights since the last Annual General Meeting:
- 30 Dec 2016 – 13 Jan 2017 (14 nights): Rainer Kurz (Germany)
- 14 Jan 2017 (1 night): Terry Manley + wife (Armidale)
- 15 – 21 Jan 2017 (6 nights): jOmO (France)
- 22 – 28 Jan 2017 (6 nights): Martine Freydier (France)
- 25 – 28 Jan 2017 (3 nights): Michèle Reverdy + Michèle Orrey (France)
- 29 Apr – 7 May 2017 (8 nights): Juto (Yuto Kawabata) kaj Fanjo (Japan)
- 10 – 21 May 2017 (11 nights): Marc Cuffez (Belgium)
- 26 – 29 Jun 2017 (3 nights): Eric Rademacher (Germany)
- 16 – 22 Jul 2017 (6 nights): Norbert Bludau + wife (Germany)
- 22 Aug 2017 (1 night): Jonathan + wife (Gosford)
- 7 Sep 2017 (1 night): Dmitry Lushnikov (Roseville)
- 13 – 16 Oct 2017 (3 nights): Trevor Steele (Adelaide)
Amikumu
On 29 August 2017 the Federation invested $7500 for a 1% share in Amikumu Pty Ltd (ABN 90 618 666 916), the creators of the Amikumu smartphone app.
African Esperanto Education Project
The Federation agreed to pay $150 every 3 months to the organisation Esperanto Plus, to support the work of Jeremiah Kahindo, teaching Esperanto to young people in South Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After 4 payments (at the board meeting of 4 March 2018) the Federation will reconsider its ongoing commitment.