Herorat.org: November 2009 Newsletter

- APOPO Named winner in Lien Demining Challenge in Thailand
- APOPO Launches new Website!
- Braintree Scientific is first Corporate HeroRAT Sponsor!
- Interview with Inne, APOPO supporter and volunteer
- Support APOPO’s Work: Adopt a HeroRAT for the Holidays!

Hello Supporters,

Hope all is well this fall for you.  The rains have come here in Tanzania, bringing nourishment for crops and muddy roads.  This month we have some great news to share.

First off, we are happy to report that our HeroRATs detected 70 cases of tuberculosis in patients missed by microscopy and 10 new rats passed their final test in landmine detection.

Second, APOPO won the Lien i3 Challenge for social innovation in Singapore, meaning soon we hope to be training rat teams to demine along the Cambodian – Thai border!

Third, the HeroRAT program has launched a pilot corporate sponsorship program with our first corporate adopter, Braintree Scientific, Inc!  As part of this program, Braintree has named their HeroRAT ‘Sniffles’ and will provide for her entire training.

We are excited to announce our new APOPO website!  We hope this will improve our communication with supporters like you, as well as interested parties worldwide.  Long in need of updating, we are proud to show off our hard work and the hard work of Inne Ten Have, a long time supporter, volunteer and consultant.  To hear more about Inne, please read his interview included in this issue.

Finally, we are gearing up for the holiday giving season.  Thank you as always for your support and keep APOPO’s HeroRAT adoption program in mind when you are looking for creative gift giving ideas. 

Kind Regards,

The HeroRAT team

APOPO Named winner in Lien Demining Challenge in Thailand
The Lien i3 Challenge “aims to catalyze social projects that are innovative, implementable and impactful in Singapore and Asia. It has set aside up to one million Singapore dollars for a prize fund to spur ideas and make possible new social models. This latest initiative furthers the LCSI's mission to enhance and grow the non-profit sector primarily through social innovation.” 

This March, APOPO submitted a proposal to engage in demining along Thailand’s Cambodian border for the Lien i3 Challenge.  In September, we were selected as a finalist, and now APOPO has been honored as a winner for our uniquely simple approach to a complex problem.  While the details of our future operation there are still being worked out, APOPO is pleased that the judges in Singapore selected us for our proven and efficient low-tech solutions.

APOPO Launches new Website!
This month, APOPO is proud to announce the release of our new website www.apopo.org!  It is now completely re-vamped, updated and re-organized to get our message out in an accessible way.  Furthermore, the new website will have increased navigability, making it simpler for users to find what they are looking for. The old website was created in 2003 and in flash rather than html, making it difficult to search for and difficult for many of our supporters to access.  Theses upgrades are crucial for APOPO’s communication with the public and will help facilitate both our supporters and those previously unaware of our work to search and find the information they need to get acquainted with us. Please check it out at apopo.org! 

Braintree Scientific Inc is the first Corporate HeroRAT Sponsor!
Braintree Scientific, Inc. has been serving the needs of the Life Science Industry for over 30 years and this fall, they are the first corporation ever to solely sponsor a Hero Rat!  APOPO is excited at the possibility of expanding its corporate sponsorship program, which covers the cost of food, care, and training for the duration of one’s rats life.  This amounts to approximately 6,000 euro and APOPO is deeply grateful for Braintree Scientific’s support!  Braintree stated, “We are grateful for the opportunity to follow our Hero Rat's progress and witness it's role in the safe keeping of innocent lives from the devastating and cruel actions of others.  We proudly accept this leadership position and challenge others to do the same.”  Their little HeroRAT was given the name of “Sniffles”.  She is currently eight weeks old.

Interview with Inne, APOPO supporter and volunteer
Inne Ten Have currently runs an IT communications firm in the Netherlands, but he has been involved with APOPO since the beginning.  In the mid 1990s, Inne received a one-year Dutch grant in recognition of his excellent industrial designs.  He traveled a lot during this year and became interested in studying prosthetics in Cambodia, where they are mainly utilized for landmine amputees.  He also went to Angola and in 1996, he met Bart Weetjens at a conference for the electronic detection of landmines.  Here, they first discussed using rats for efficient and cheap landmine detection.  He and Bart talked about going further with this, but as Inne says, “I’m good at helping to develop ideas, but not good at building an organization.”  This however was something Bart could really run with!

After his year traveling and learning, once his grant money ran dry, Inne started an Architecture firm and then an IT firm.  Both grew quickly, but eventually he chose IT and made the organization “slick and slim” by scaling it down to two employees.  Now he lives by a small lake in Rotterdam with his wife and two young children.  At times he misses working abroad, especially in developing countries, but he is happy doing his work, helping companies communicate better to stakeholders and customers.  He also loves helping APOPO.  In 2006, he came to Tanzania to visit our operations and has recently re-made our new website providing his company’s excellent professional services!  Furthermore, in an attempt to get the word out, Inne has collaborated with a Japanese school teacher to create a desktop origami paper rat!  You can make your own by clicking HERE!  APOPO is grateful for the support and dedication Inne has shown over the years, we are lucky to have such strong supporters!

Support APOPO's Work: Adopt a HeroRAT for the Holidays!
APOPO’s staff and HeroRATS are working hard to save lives and limbs from disaster and disease. Please help us eradicate the dangers posed by landmines and curb the spread of Tuberculosis by making a donation or by adopting a HeroRAT. You can make an online donation through PayPal here or visit Herorat.org to adopt one of our HeroRATS!