City of Chicago

Richard M.Daley

Mayor

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, Sunday, February 19. 1995, marks the beginning of Internetional Friendship Week; and

WHEREAS, Internetional Fiendship Week, which was initiated by Esperanto groups, will be celebrated simultanedously in dozens of countries worldwide, and

WHEREAS, Esperanto promotes worldwide friendship throug the use of common words in European languages, and is the best-documented, most promising attempt at forming a universal language acceptable to peaple of different cultures and background; and

WHEREAS, Esperanto also serves as a preparatory course for foreign languages because of its systematic, streamined grammar; and

WHEREAS, the Esperanto Society of Chicago has recently hosted Esperantists from Bulgaria, China,Czech Republic, Hungary, Iran,Japan, Russia and Uzbekistan, and is in contact with Esperantists in Kiev, Ukraine, which is a sister city of Chicago, and

WHEREAS, the Esperanto Society of Chicago translated a chemistry texbook and is sending it to youth groups in the Third World; and

WHEREAS, the UNESCO projekt FUNDAPAX aims to link Esperanto classrooms in multiple countries by computer, fax, telefone and mail; and

WHEREAS, 1995 marks the 108th anniversary of the Esperanto language:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICHARD M. DALEY, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, do hereby proclaim February 19-25, 1995, to be INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP WEEK IN CHICAGO, in honor of Esperanto's 108th anniversary

Dated this 3rd day of February, 1995

RICHARD M.DALEY

MAYOR