Presented at the Annual General Meeting 7 September 2024
Membership
From the beginning of July 2023, we welcomed 17 new members: Monika Agarwal, Gwen Chan, Eszter Coombs, Elsa Cooper, Rory Coverdale, Karim De-Lancel, Minh Thong Do (Tom), Dominic England, John Grant, Amy Hong, Melody (Errol) Hooper, David Ludeke, Jack McMahon, Imogen Marosz, Chunliang Mu, Steve Ripley and Nicole Stevens.
Five members from 2023 didn’t renew.
Current number of members: 40
Esperanto courses
Two courses for members were organised. Although they were held at Esperanto House (and students were encouraged to attend in person), there was always the option of participating by Zoom.
Beginners, with Adam Levy
This was a ten-week course (one hour per week), which started on Sunday, 21 April 2024, at 5pm. There were approximately 3 students in person each week, plus 5 online.
Intermediate: Joanne
This was a six-week course (two hours per week), which started on Sunday 14 July 2024, at 4pm. There were approximately 7 students in person each week, plus 7 online.
Buildings
Finding a new tenant for the Little Eveleigh Street building
Unfortunately, Key College (an independent school, mentioned at the last AGM) announced on 15 March 2024 that they were unable to complete the arrangements to lease the building, due to the high cost of fitting it out to their specific needs. The owner of a local private gallery also expressed interest but eventually declined, saying that the rent we were asking was too high for them. Enquiries were made with a commercial real estate agent, but midway through negotiations, they announced that they were only offering exclusive contracts, meaning that we would be required to pay them a percentage of the monthly rent even if the tenant came directly to us. Currently, the building (officially, just the rear quarter) is being leased as a sculptor’s studio, for $1000 per month.
Repairs to the Little Eveleigh Street building
After getting the leaking along the eastern wall fixed (by replacement of the box gutter), a leak appeared on the western wall. Despite numerous attempts to have the problem fixed, we have been unable, as yet, to have it done.
The roller-door was motorised, and a new axle installed in October 2023.
The walls were cleaned (with high-pressure water) and painted in January 2024.
Courtyard
The courtyard outside the kitchen has been further beautified, with the installation of a new lattice screen and pot-plants.
Hiring of Esperanto House
A private group (“Prime Time”) now hire Esperanto House every Friday, for games nights, for $100 per week, under the supervision of Dmitry Lushnikov.
Library
Phases 1 and 2 of the cataloguing project are now complete. All books and collections of periodicals (plus a few audio-visual items) have been catalogued. The third phase involves setting up a computer system for members to reserve items and record when items are borrowed and returned.
The catalogue is viewable online as a spreadsheet at bit.ly/biblioteko-katalogo.
Guestroom
Thirteen people used the guestroom over 154 days in the 2023-24 financial year.
Zamenhof Day
The annual Zamenhof Day celebration was held at Esperanto House on Sunday 17 December 2023. Jonathan Cooper led a game, “Guess the word” (Esperanto hangman), Nicole Else led a game, “Am I lying?”, Dmitry gave a talk about his recent trip around Australia, and Rainer Kurz gave a talk about “Beautiful Stuttgart”.
Telopeo
Eight issues of the Federation e-newsletter, Telopeo, were published in the 2023-24 financial year.
Language festivals
Two successful language festivals were held in June 2024, one at Burwood (22 June) and one at the State Library of NSW (23 June). Each one featured Esperanto.
Proposed strategic plan
The board is currently discussing ideas for:
- Increasing the number of members
- Increasing the number of events at Esperanto House (and virtually)
- Attracting more visitors to Esperanto House
- Promoting Esperanto in and outside of Sydney
- Having more services for members and other Esperantists
Ideas include:
- Improving the website to better explain reasons for joining or learning Esperanto
- Hiring a worker to look after Esperanto House regularly
- Setting up some kind of Esperanto café
The discussion paper can be viewed at bit.ly/strategia-plano
Jonathan Cooper
President
5 September 2024