Sample Certificate

SAMPLE CERTIFICATE

Michelle Obama

This will look nice in the Oval Office

Barack Obama SAMPLE CERTIFICATE

Thank you For your generous support to purchase a Home for a Hero. These specially designed homes provide a place for our life-saving HeroRATs to snuggle up at the end of the day. A good nights sleep will help our heroes save lives.

Bart Weetjens, HeroRATs, APOPO Founder APOPO home is where the heart is

SAMPLE CERTIFICATE

© Briana Marie-Forgie ABOUT APOPO “THE APOPO is a Belgian NGO HERORATS that has developed an in- novative system deploying SAVED MY LIFE African giant pouched AND CLEARED rats, ‘HeroRATs’, to detect OUR LAND.” landmines or tuberculosis using their sensitive sense of smell.

APOPO and the HeroRATs have cleared thousands of landminesSAMPLE thereby helping CERTIFICATE hundreds of thousands of people back on their land, and they have saved thousands of lives by detecting Tuberculosis. © Ville Palonen

OUR GLOBAL IMPACT MINE ACTION & HEALTH TREATMENT Find out how many other people the HeroRATs have helped. Check out www.apopo.org/en/about/results/impact

WHY RATS?

WITHOUT 1. Exceptional sense of smell THE HERORATS Rats are among the most sensitive animals when it comes to DETECTING smell. They can sense where a landmine is buried or if a human sputum sample contains TB. Moreover, their sensitivity for a MY TB specific scent increases with training. I MIGHT HAVE BEEN DEAD 2. Intelligent and trainable BY NOW.” The African Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys gambianus) is an intelligent animal, relatively calm and trainable. They have a Shirifa Shomale, Dar Es Salaam long lifespan of up to eight years. 3. Too light to set off mines On average APOPO rats weigh just over a kilogram, which is not enough to set off a landmine. To indicate the location of a landmine they are trained to pause and scratch on the ground surface. 4. Locally sourced and widely available The “Cricetomys Gambianus” or “African Giant Pouched Rat” is native to most of Sub-Saharan Africa, adapted to the local environment and widely available. © Ville Palonen © Jeroen Van Loon 5. Easily transferable between trainers Though social animals, rats do not bond closely to their trainers. This means that the rats are unfazed when being transferred between trainers or sent abroad for operations. 6. Low maintenance cost Rats are cost-effective to source, feed, breed and maintain. Their small size makes them cheap and easy to transport both locally and internationally. 7. Resistant species Endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa, the African Pouched rats are well adapted to the environment. APOPO’s rats are in excellent condition and live long healthy lives. APOPO APOPO’S HERORATS TOP 10 FACTS

1 APOPO’s Mine Detection HeroRATs detect only explosive 5 APOPO’s Tuberculosis Detection HeroRATs help diagnose chemicals such as TNT and ignore the scrap metal that tuberculosis along with 39 clinics in Tanzania and Mozam- metal detectors pick up. bique.

2 Owing to their light weight (approximately one kilogram) 6 APOPO’s Tuberculosis Detection HeroRATs are at least as Mine Detection HeroRATs do not detonate the mines. accurate as conventional routine microscopy, and up to 20 times faster. Not a single HeroRAT has ever been harmed during APOPO’s 3 7 A Tuberculosis Detection Rat screens 100 samples in detection activities. 20 minutes; this would take a lab technician up to 4 days. 4 HeroRATs are extremely fast landmine detectors: They SAMPLE CERTIFICATE8 APOPO’s Mine Detection HeroRATs must pass stringent ac- can check an area of approximately 200 square meters creditation tests before being deployed in various countries. in 20 minutes; this would take a technician with a metal detector 1–4 days depending on the levels of scrap metal 9 From the age of five weeks these rats are socialized to contamination. interact with people; then their training process begins. 10 The HeroRATs have a lifespan of up to eight years.

ANIMAL WELFARE Animal Welfare is a top priority for everyone at APOPO. We a specially designed living space with a friend that they can work in partnership with these wonderful animals and do call their own, bi-weekly health checks by a vet, a stimulat- everything we can to ensure that they are treated like the ing environment, and mandatory petting and cuddles every heroes they are. All of our animals receive a nutritious diet, day from APOPO staff.

Read more about how we take care of the HeroRATs. www.apopo.org/en/about/our-work/faq/all

LEARN MORE STAY CONNECTED Facebook https://www.facebook.com/heroRAT

Twitter https://twitter.com/HeroRATs

Instagram https://instagram.com/herorats

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/APOPOHeroRATs

WE TRAIN RATS TO SAVE LIVES Find out: www.apopo.org