Jack, ex NP2OR, 5X7JD will be active as 5X3L from Uganda.
He will operate on HF Bands.
QSL direct to:
Jack Dunigan, Equator Village, Kayabwe, Uganda.
Previous activity:
Jack, NP2OR will be active from Uganda until May 2010 as 5X7JD.
He is active on 20 and 40m everyday 05 - 15.50 UTC.
QSL only direct to:
Jack Dunigan, Box 100, Masaka, Uganda.
Uganda
The Republic of Uganda is a small African country. It is an amazing state with an interesting culture, unique wildlife and incredible history facts. It is a real pearl of East Africa. A country where giraffes, elephants, lions and hippos walk freely, and the abundance and beauty of flowering fields makes you think that maybe those scientists who believe that it was here, at the source of the Nile River, that life on earth originated. It is not for nothing that the early name of Uganda, Buganda, translates as "land of men". But we will not ponder on how likely this is, but simply talk about this beautiful place.
Just a little bit of geography and a little more interesting facts
For a quick reference to the location of Uganda, just look up Africa, the equator and the famous Lake Victoria. There it is, Uganda. Here, northwest of the world's second largest freshwater lake.
It's a land where African jungle seamlessly transitions into African savannah, and the sun rises and sets at the same time every day. And it does not occur to anyone to ask the question: how long is a day in Uganda? Twelve hours, of course. Then comes the twelve-hour night to give way to the sun again at exactly 7 a.m., and at 7 p.m. to return and plunge the mountains, parks, towns and villages of Uganda into darkness. And so it is all year round.
And also, 250 days a year in the sky above Uganda thunderstorms rumble and the inhabitants simply do not pay attention to these terrible sounds and are not afraid of thunder.
If we talk about the scale of the planet, then Uganda has distinguished itself here too: in this small country there is the first on Earth Queen Elizabeth Natural National Park, famous all over the world.
Also, in case you are not aware, according to ornithologists, Uganda is home to 11% of the world's birds.
So maybe Eden really was here? It could be.
Uganda is a country of contrasts
In general, the Republic of Uganda is considered the friendliest on the African continent. Traditions of hospitality, characteristic for Ugandans, are known far beyond the borders of the country.
At the same time, any guest of the country can find himself in an unpleasant situation if, for example, he buys some trinket or souvenir from a merchant on the street. No aggression. Nothing to be afraid of. It's just that one can get into jail for 5-7 days because of a harmless purchase, being in complete ignorance that street trading is illegal in the country. But the responsibility for failure to comply with the law is laid not on local residents, but for some reason on tourists, who unknowingly willingly buy souvenirs, art objects, fruits from traders. Therefore, you should know that a cheap bunch of bananas can be very expensive if you buy it not in a shop, but on the street.
And here are some more entertaining facts. In Uganda, less than 1% of the inhabitants are atheists. About 85% of Ugandans are Christian, about 10% are Muslims, and the rest of the population are adherents of other faiths, which Christians and Muslims treat very respectfully. In the capital of Uganda, Kampala, next to colourful Hindu temples, the golden domes of Christian churches and mosques glisten in the sun.
But, at the same time, the country has been the scene of frequent armed conflict for about 50 years, most recently waged by an army with a surprising name: the Lord's Resistance Army.
The result of the GAS has been tens of thousands killed and millions of refugees, mass kidnappings of children from whom they make warriors. The GAS believes that only children untouched by the sin of the world can build a normal society. I guess that's why children become militants and kill civilians?
This is how strange is the case with moral and spiritual values in small Uganda.
Poor people in a rich country
It is hard to say why the rich nature, majestic natural parks inhabited by exotic animals, abundance of fresh water (unlike other African countries) do not make Uganda richer. Not only that, it is one of the poorest in the world: about 40 per cent of the population lives on little more than a dollar a day, and in villages about 85 per cent of the inhabitants live below the poverty line. This is why the average age of the Ugandan population is 15 years. It is almost impossible for people to live longer than that.
Cannibalism - truth or fiction?
Unfortunately, Uganda is also famous for the fact that President Idi Amin, who ruled the country in the seventies, was a notorious bloody dictator and simply ate human flesh, eating opponents who disagreed with his policies.
The current President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who has been in power for 25 years and came to power just at a difficult time in the struggle against the cannibalistic regime of cannibal Idi Amin, has done a lot for Uganda by reducing the number of unemployed, introducing free education and affordable health care, but still the country remains very, very poor.
If we remember that Uganda is home to the smallest people on Earth - pygmies, that it is the only country in the world where you can officially buy the life of a leopard for money, that visiting girls are forbidden by law to wear short skirts, and that this is where Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were to be scattered according to his will, it becomes clear that this is an extraordinary country!