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 Previous: Radio Amateurs, DXpedition Team Handle Emergency Traffic in Disaster's Wake |  Next: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending December 25, 2004 |
By Danny Shaver, N5NBK
December 28, 2004
Amateur Radio operators who are doing missionary work take on a critical role in South America.
Imagine for a moment that your job has taken you to a rain forest in South America. You are camped in a remote village, beside a swollen tropical river. There are no noisy power lines or home appliances for hundreds of miles. Your mobile HF transceiver batteries are charged by a solar panel. The G5RV antenna is strung up in the forest canopy. You key the microphone and call "CQ CQ this is PP8XXX," instantly becoming the DX that stateside hams are chasing. Suddenly the village chief appears, carrying a young girl who has been bitten by a venomous snake. Calling for an airplane to take the girl to a distant hospital, your DXpedition becomes a medical aid mission and your radio just saved a life.
 Figure 1--10,000 feet up in the Andes on a single lane road (if you can call it that), with thick fog and no guard rail. Talk about adrenaline! |
In the Andes of Peru, you are situated in an ancient Inca city over 10,000 feet above sea level; beautiful mountain scenery is all around. Working DX to your heart's content, you can relax in the hot mineral baths nearby when you grow tired. Before long, trouble finds you. Because of your work in the country, you are known by the local officials, who come for help with a desperate situation. Cholera has broken out and has very quickly become an epidemic.
The capacity of this third world country to supply the medical needs have been exhausted. The local hospital is over capacity with victims, many who are lying in the hallways on blankets. The hospital is out of needed medical supplies, and to make matters worse, the telephone lines are out of service. You fire up the HF rig and tell a friend in the States about the situation. He calls a local television station, which airs a story about the situation (and Amateur Radio as well). Medical aid pours in with over 650,000 pounds of relief supplies. Even the US government is flying in 150,000 pounds of the supplies on a C5A transport--more comes by sea. The epidemic is stemmed as a result of ham radio. You and Amateur Radio are the heroes of the day.
Hams and Heroes
This may sound like a fictional suspense drama, but all of it really happened. Amateur Radio was very important in resolving each crisis. These incidents go on around the world today and most of us in the United States do not know it is happening.
 Figure 2--Don Moore, HR5DRM, operating his station, with equipment provided through Radio Ministries. |
Because of my contact with these unsung heroes, I hear these stories on a regular basis. These are missionaries who risk life and limb to carry the gospel to remote regions of the world, providing humanitarian and medical aid in the process.
No matter what your religious preference, it's hard not to respect the dedication of these men and women. They live in remote locations with primitive conditions and provide medical, educational and other technical provisions to third world countries. Many of them are also Amateur Radio operators. Amateur Radio is the only communication available in the locations where they minister. It provides the only means to contact their family and friends back home on a regular basis.
I am a part of a group that provides equipment and support to these missionaries. We run telephone patches for them back to their families, and we provide the specialized equipment that allows them to send and receive e-mail as well. This equipment allows them not only to keep in touch with their loved ones, but also a hobby they can pursue to relax from the stresses of their lives in remote, distant locations. More importantly, it provides necessary emergency communication in times of disaster.
Radio Ministries, Missionaries and Support
A problem for these missionaries is just finding an Elmer
to help them with the licensing requirements. Since most of them are paid
minimal salaries and their denominational groups do not help with the cost of
the equipment, the price of entry level radios often poses a problem. I have
recently joined a group of like-minded amateurs trying to help these
individuals get their licenses and provide equipment and expertise to set it
up.
 Figure 3--Sitting on the Inca King's throne from which he surveyed his realm in Cajamarca, Peru. |
The name of this organization is Radio Ministries and our Web page can be found at www.radioministries.org. There are many worthwhile ways to promote Amateur Radio. I believe this one not only promotes our wonderful hobby, but provides humanitarian aid and goodwill as well. Becoming involved has not only given me the satisfaction of helping others, but has challenged me to learn and experience other facets of our hobby. I suppose you can say it has added purpose to the fun in my hobby.
Assisting these individuals as they build goodwill for our hobby around the world is very worthwhile. In addition, these new operators are willing to give more than a signal report and their call sign. They are interesting to talk with and can tell you about life in a foreign country from an American's perspective.
One of our latest stations is operated by a missionary/ham
in Guyana. He and his wife run a medical clinic in a remote section of this
South American country. While making a phone patch to his parents in
California, I asked him if he had e-mail capability. He said, jokingly, he did.
He would transfer e-mail to a computer disc and send it down river on a dugout
boat to Georgetown. It would then be uploaded to the Internet. Return e-mail
would be downloaded to a disc and sent back upriver--return e-mail taking about
three weeks.
 Figure 4--Installing of one of five HF stations given to the Peruvian Health Department during a trip to Peru in 1997. |
My friend and his parents were elated to find equipment that would allow them to send and receive e-mail via ham radio with the Winlink 2000 system. He now has the equipment in hand, supplied by Radio Ministries free of charge. We need Amateur Radio operators who will not only contribute to the cost of placing radio equipment in these people's hands, but also inform them about other modes they can use.
Missionary Nets
There are several nets where missionaries check in
frequently. The two I frequent are the Halo Net, which operates every day on
21.390 MHz--1800Z to 1900Z during Daylight Saving Time, and 1900Z to 2000Z
during Standard Time. The BFO net is Tuesday and Thursday from 0100Z to 0400Z
at 14.319 MHz, Saturday from 2100Z to 0000Z at 21.365 MHz and Sunday from 2100Z
to 0000Z at 21.330 MHz. There are others you can find by asking around on the
air, or consulting the ARRL Net Directory.
| Previous: Radio Amateurs, DXpedition Team Handle Emergency Traffic in Disaster's Wake | Next: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending December 25, 2004 |
