Pasporta Servo

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The Pasporta Servo (Passport Service) is a hospitality service for speakers of the language Esperanto. The service publishes a directory of people from countries in every continent who are willing to host other Esperanto speakers in their homes for free. Within the Esperanto culture, the annual directory is considered an important publication, possibly second only to the Plena Ilustrita Vortaro (Unabridged Illustrated Dictionary). As of 2005, there are 1364 hosts in 89 countries. However, the geographical distribution is somewhat uneven; for example, in 2004:

119 - France
98 - Germany
78 - Ukraine
64 - Russia
52 - United States
42 - Netherlands
34 - China
29 - Japan
28 - Iran
3 - India
67 - all of Africa
78 - all of South America

Hosts specify how many days and how many guests can stay along with a short comment with other restrictions or interests (no smokers, bring a tent, young people especially welcome, etc). The hosts enjoy having people from various countries stay at their homes while the guests enjoy free housing in the locations listed (although hosts may ask for reimbursement of incurred expenses). Also, guests may feel more at ease because many hosts are willing to assist with transportation and local information etc, and some also provide meals, although the only actual commitment required of all hosts is to offer overnight accommodation.

The Pasporta Servo directory is published every year by TEJO, the World Organization for Young Esperantists. Although the concept of offering hospitality to the traveler dates back to early cultures (notably ancient Greece), the idea of applying it specifically to Esperanto speakers began in 1966 in Argentina when Ruben Feldman-Gonzalez started the Programo Pasporto. Pasporta Servo in its current form was first published in 1974 with 40 hosts, under the guidance of Jeanne-Marie Cash in France. Both are still hosts in the Pasporta Servo.

The Pasporta Servo has enjoyed much use in the Esperanto movement as a means for promoting Esperanto, and is one reason why people start learning Esperanto. The official web site currently (April 2004) states: "While providing a service to Esperanto-speaking hosts and guests, at the same time it demonstrates, easily and clearly, to the outside public that Esperanto is useful and that it works in practice. [...] Many people learn Esperanto only because they want to travel by means of Pasporta Servo."