Tri-nation Esperanto congress and summerschool, Bandung, Indonesia : 23 – 28 Mar 2016
Jonny M kantas dum la kongreso
“Selamat Datang untuk congress Darby trunk negara pertama.
Welcome to the tri-nation Esperanto congress.”
With these words, the three national associations welcomed 101 participants, among them 40 foreigners.
When we (Australians, Indonesians and New Zealanders) decided to organise this tri-nation congress in January 2015 we hesitated and – of course – feared a flop. But ultimately we were able to harvest and enjoy the fruits of our efforts.
AEA and NZEA supported the congress financially and practically. At the same time IEA helped us attract some Esperanto speakers from Australia, who until now have not participated in national arrangements.
Coming from a country where the majority of Esperanto speakers are elderly, the large number of young, lively students here have given us more hope. Having three country associations organise the congress and foreigners attending from other countries, created a much more international atmosphere than just a national congress.
The program was very varied. There was a class for beginners and advanced learners, presentations about: volcanoes in Auckland, the landscape, flora and fauna in Australia. There were also various interesting lectures from the young Indonesians, the topics included orang-utans, coffee from Javapreanger, the history of gamelan and the publication of books in Indonesia. The young and energetic rap artist Jonny M became very popular among the young local and foreign people.
A great help was the fact that the local Bandung Esperanto group had strong links with the local Asian-African Conference Museum in the city. The opening ceremony took place there, and we also enjoyed the “Night at the Museum” on a rainy Saturday night.
South-East Asia does not abound with esperantists and this tri-nation congress could serve as a model for future events in this and other regions.
We were also very fortunate to have had two UEA committee members with us. Stefan MacGill led the 21st AMO seminar and Ŝlosilo (Lee Jungkee) constantly reminded us of the situation in Asia and especially in Southeast Asia and the importance of this congress.
We decided to hold the second tri-nation Esperanto congress in 2018. We hope to see you (again) in Bandung between the 28th March and 2nd April 2018.
[UPDATE: The 2018 congress actually happened in Bekasi, Indonesia.]