History of TEJO
During 1998, TEJO celebrates its 60th anniversary, marking more than half a century of working with young people to create a richer cultural world through Esperanto.
The World Organisation of Young Esperantists (TEJO) began its life actually as a group involving primarily Esperanto teachers. Two Dutch teachers, Mr. and Mrs. E .van Veenendaal, organized a meeting in Groet, the Netherlands, for Esperanto-speaking children from 10 countries in 1938, the Internacia Junulara Kunveno (International Youth Meeting). At that meeting, on August 14, Tutmonda Junular-Organizo (Worldwide Youth Organization / TJO) was born, with goals that included propagating Esperanto, arranging international meetings, and working to bring Esperanto to schools.
However, TJO met an early halt because of World War II. It wasn't in operation again until 1945, when its publication La Juna Vivo (Young Life) began publication again and the Internacia Junulara Kongreso (International Youth Congress) was convened in Belgium the following year.
Soon, TJO became more of a youth organisation, when more young members started directing its work; by 1951, TJO's board was comprised entirely of young people. In line with the new development, the organization officially changed its name to its current form, Tutmonda Esperantista Junulara Organizo, in 1952.
In TEJO, as within the youth society in general, the late 1950s up through the 1960s brought an intense push for progress and change, with TEJO organizing its first Congress in a socialist land (15th IJK- Gdansk, Poland, 1959), creating its first goal plan, launching an international socio-cultural magazine for youth in Esperanto still published today, Kontakto (Contact), and adapting from Argentina a worldwide system of hosts to traveling Esperantists called Pasporta Servo (Passport Service).
Having established a base, TEJO also began to reach out to non-Esperantist youth organizations. The Commision for External Relations, which collaborates work with non-Esperantist youth NGOs, became particularly active during this period. In addition to publishing a newsletter for external organization, it organized the first of many seminars on socio-cultural problems in September 1965 in Yugoslavia.
TEJO continued to strengthen and develop its work during the 1970s and 1980s, improving the services and projects it already offered. A major step towards TEJO's development was organizing its first seminars of current social issues affecting youth at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg, France, as well as increasing its cooperation with European youth institutions. However, the chief event of the 1980's was Esperanto's 100th anniversary in 1987, which TEJO celebrated by, for example, organizing the largest Congress to date in the organization's history (43rd IJK- Krakow, Poland, 1987).
The 1990s within TEJO has been a period to push towards a more professional level on a more global scale. The chief publications of TEJO, especially Kontako, received dramatic face lifts to better meet reader's needs; TEJO operated an office in Bonn temporarily, in addition to its Rotterdam headquarters; and the organization became more engaged in youth policy and action through the European Youth Forum and the UN.
The celebrations for TEJO's anniversary took place during this year's 54th Congress, in Rijeka, Croatia, from July 25 to August 1.
