Presita el Usona Esperantisto № 2024:1 - “Esperanto-USA salutas vin”

From Ryan Brocato

Lasta ĝisdatigo: 2024-03-10

How long had the letter been on the desk at UEA’s U.N. office at 777 UN Plaza in New York City? Who was it from? Why send something to an office that is infrequently visited? I suspect these were some of the questions running through Humphrey Tonkin’s mind when he discovered a letter with an Alabama return address when he visited the office in late 2023.

The handwritten letter was from Shannon Barlow who, with two others, had started studying Esperanto. Somehow, they found the 777 address and sent the letter. So why write instead of using the Internet to find out about Esperanto? Well, Shannon, Ryan and Michael don’t have access to the Internet. They are prisoners at the Bibb County Correctional Facility in Brent, Alabama. Humphrey sent the letter to me, and I responded; anyone resourceful enough to write to the 777 address deserved an answer!

Here are their Esperanto stories.

Shannon, Ryan and Michael would like to correspond with the readers of Usona Esperantisto. You can do so by snail mail (address is found after each of their messages). You can also write to them electronically online (it costs $0.15 to send a message)!

—Chuck Mays

Saluton!

Mi nomiĝas Rajano!

I am super excited about the Esperantist culture and identity that I am growing into. I believe in the idea of world citizenry. Aren’t we all citizens of this Earth we call home? I came across Esperanto through my best friend Shannon. I have dabbled with a few languages like Japanese, Italian, Hebrew, and Spanish mainly because I was looking for a cultural identity that I could never find. I reconnected with my best friend, and he was learning this language of hope. As a free thinker, I delved into the liberation of hope with the e-books that my prison tablet offers. I started with a Helen Fryer book on Esperanto and within a week we had a very good vocabulary built and I was excited. I am now doing the postal Esperanto course, and as I read more about Dr. Zamenhof, I realize he had a vision for all of humanity: Hope. All the divisions that are placed upon so many people that cause strife amongst the world population, are easily dissolved in the unified language of hope. Please feel free to contact me, I would love to engage with my Esperanto family more and more. As we grow together without barriers, we will gain much more insight into the essence of humanity. Hope Without Borders.

Ryan Brocato #250800
Bibb County Correctional Facility D3-1b
565 Bibb Lane
Brent, Alabama 35034