Page 44 - Jan - March 2023 Edition

EXPLORE UGANDA - THE EQUATOR

Next time you cross the Equator
on Masaka Road, swing by
for a cup of coffee or
tea and get a complimentary
Equator Chocolate

www.aliuganda.com • www.chocolate.ug
AidChild: 0780-282697 • Equator Chocolate: 0783-104217

EQUATOR crosses the Mbarara-Kasese Road, and a tiny,
Where hemispheres meet! uninhabited island in Lake Victoria.
There are only 13 countries in the world To plan your own equator visit on Masaka
where you can take a photo of yourself in Road, check out aidchild.org/equator, or the
the southern hemisphere AND in the northern hashtags:
hemisphere at the same time. One of these #UgandaEquator
great photo ops is right here in Uganda--just #EquatorLine.
70 kilometers (43 miles) from the edge of
Kampala--on your way to Lake Mburo and AIDCHILD EQUATOR SHOP
Queen Elizabeth national parks, and on your A few steps north of the equator line on
way to visit our beloved gorillas, Rwanda, Masaka Road. +256 780 282697.
Congo, and all-things-west. info@aidchild.org
www.aidchild.org/equator
At the roadside line-marker, you can position @AidChildEquator (f)
one foot in the south, and the other foot next @AidChild (t)
to it--in the north--and suddenly you're the @ali.uganda (i)
center of the world (or at least you're standing (SEE OUR ADVERT ABOVE)
on it).
In 2002, AidChild (an NGO) received a grant
from USAID, and brought water and elec-
tricity to the equator-village while creating
the first coffee shop and art gallery at the
equator-crossing, spawning an arts and crafts
destination.
Twenty years later, AidChild still has a shop
here (including a garden cafe', and a plas-
tics-recycling-collection point), just a few steps
north of the line, donating all its proceeds to
scholarships for students living with HIV.
There is also a unique demonstration point
where you can see how water swirls-and-drains
differently in each hemisphere, making it a
quick-pic-stop, or a fun and educational,
shopping day-trip from the city.
Where else can you have one foot in winter,
and another foot in summer? The 12 other
equatorial countries are: Colombia, Ecuador,
Brazil, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Repub-
lic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia,
and Kiribati. Here in Uganda, the equator also

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