Governments, international organizations and
individuals have always been fighting for world peace, a state of ultimate
freedom, serenity, and happiness among and within all nations and people of the
world. However, all the efforts that are being made to make this dream a
reality seem to be, to a large extent, not enough.
1887 was the year when the Polish linguistic and doctor, Ludwik Lazarus
Zamenhof, decided to do something about this. His initiative was a language
that he called “Esperanto”. Esperanto is now over 125 years old and it is the
world’s most spoken constructed auxiliary language. The word “Esperanto” itself
translates to “the one who hopes”.
The aim of creating such a language was not to compete with other widely
spoken languages. Its goals actually go beyond that. Because of its neutrality,
no country and no people will be favoured at the expense of another. It is
considered to be a simple, effective and easy solution to fight
misunderstandings and miscommunication, and when avoiding that, people will get
to avoid much more serious issues like discrimination, inequality and
stereotypes.
Esperanto is not only a tool of international communication between
people, it is also a way to promote peace by delivering its simplest meaning to
every single person in every part of the globe. It actually helps people live
in line with their most valuable principles, because human values like respect,
love and tolerance need to be a part of everyone, something that Esperanto teaches
indirectly. Moreover, when teaching or learning to speak this language, we
actually carry responsibility and respect towards each other and towards our
humanity and eventually towards our functioning as human beings.
The World Esperanto Association or the Universala Esperanto-Asocio (UEA)
- as it is in Esperanto - is the largest international Esperanto organization,
based in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. It
actually has members in 121 countries around the world. This organization has
been putting a lot of effort in order to make this language as useful as
possible as well as to amplify its use among people. As part of the UEA, people
are able to learn, practice, exchange information, publish, read, and even
organize trips, concerts and cultural events.
Today, there are still many countries with no UEA representatives
especially those in Africa and Asia, as most UEA offices are located in Europe
(mostly central Europe). However, this does
not mean that there is no possibility to interact with the UEA and be in touch
with Esperanto experts and qualified mentors that can assist anyone in their
learning process. More than two million people have now been introduced to
Esperanto, and the number is still growing, which is a good proof that this
language actually works. These two million people are mostly from European
countries, North America, and China.
As it has already done a lot for many communities and societies,
Esperanto would be a useful tool of communication to be used in all countries.
It has origins from most of the Romance languages, Slavic languages and even
languages such as Chinese and Arabic, which makes the learning process of
Esperanto relatively easy to the point that many linguists consider it to be
the easiest language on earth. The fact that English takes the crown as the
most common second language in the world, is does not mean that it is
unnecessary to use another language that would unite people in all countries,
including regions with conflicts that are now working on building a new democracy
based on the respect of Human Rights. Although many people underestimate this
idea and do not believe in its effectiveness, this language would actually
empower young people to promote active participation to integrate Human Rights
values into all areas of life, because using this neutral language can inspire
people to promote interfaith dialogue, intercultural exchange and defend their
rights and the rights of others.
Esperanto holds much more than simple words, verbs and phrases. It holds
true meaningful human values that sometimes we cannot find even in new modern
constitutions. It does not belong to anyone, it belongs to everyone. Overall,
what is more important is not the language itself or the number of its speakers
around the world. What is much more important is the universal message of peace
behind it.
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