A 17-year-old radio amateur from rural Malawi has joined the DXpedition team that is headed to Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal in October of 2026. Urgent Jere, 7Q6UJ, is not just along for the ride. Barely a year after passing his US Technician exam, he has already confirmed 168 DXCC countries as a chaser. Soon he will be on the other end of that envious pileup. He is studying to upgrade his license and sharpening his proficiency in CW.

Urgent was mentored by Don Jones, 7Q6M/K6ZO, as part of a project created by the HacDC Amateur Radio Club of Washington, D.C. and supported by the Jeffrey Dahn Memorial Foundation. Urgent hopes his efforts will inspire other young people in Africa to embrace amateur radio too.

One of Urgent's next trips after India will not be to a DXpedition but to an even longer journey that will shape the rest of his life. He plans to go to the US, where he hopes to combine academic studies with radio science at Virginia Tech University.