Saving lives from disaster and disease by
training HeroRATS
Our Mission
To become the Centre of Exellence in detection rats technology, to enhance the impact of life saving actions in vulnerable communities
Why rats?
The African Giant Pouched Rat
...is an intelligent creature, easily conditioned, loves to do repetitive tasks if rewarded with food
...has a highly developed sense of smell
...has an 8-year lifespan with several productive years after initial 1 year of training
...is lightweight, so cannot set off a mine
...compared to dogs: cheaper to breed, feed, house, maintain and transport, does not get attached to one trainer
What trained rats can do?
Search 100m 2 of suspected land in 20 minutes what would take a manual deminer 2 full days
Screen 70 sputum samples for TB in 20 minutes what would take a lab technician 2 full days
Generic technology: wide variety of spin-off applications
Impact Mine Action
Trained 53 HeroRATS in 2008
Tasked by the Mozambican Government with the entire Gaza province, with 3.7 Km2of minefields
Assessed 38.5 Km of highway in South Mozambique
Cleared over hundreds of landmines, explosive devices and ammunition
Endorsed by 11 African Great Lakes Region Governments for replication on their territories
Impact TB screening
Proof of principle for TB-screening by means of HeroRATs
87% overall accuracy in real world circumstances (37% for Microscopy)
15,041 suspected patients screend in Dar Es Salaam since January 2008
Among them, HeroRATs diagnosed 577 patients, missed by microscopy
Increased TB case detection by 31.4% in a target population of 500,000 capita
APOPO current funding
Public governments and institutions
Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining
Belgian Federal, regional and local governments (DGDC, Flemish Community, Province of Antwerp)
National Institute of Health (USA)
Private Support
Skoll Foundation
ASHOKA Innovators for the Public
Schwab Foundation
King Baudouin Foundation
UBS Optimus Foundation
Marie & Alain Philippson Foundation Citizen based support Through 'Flowers for peace'
HeroRAT adoptions
Partners
Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
Sokoine University, Morogoro, Tanzania
Tanzanian Peoples Defense Forces
International Conference for the Great Lakes Region
Max Planck Institute, Germany
National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania
APOPO Is a Belgian-Tanzanian social enterprise, established in 1998 at the University of Antwerp, in close cooperation with Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
Over 100 employees in Africa
R&D team, Trainers, Logistics, Maintenance & Breeding, In country operations, Management
Annual operating budget > $1.5 million
We invite you to support us and to visit our operations in Africa!
http://www.apopo.org
http://www.herorat.org
Presentation on media and communications in humanitarian response. Presented at Fordham University's International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance course (IDHA), Berlin, Germany, March 2013.
Wikipedia as a teaching tool in humanities modulesCIT, NUS
By Gerard Sasges
For me, the internet is a great way to allow educators in the humanities to build classes around outcome-based projects rather than around exams or other assignments. In this presentation I'm going to discuss a graduate modules I taught at NUS in SEM 1 of AY2012-13, SE5213. The module's subject was revolt and revolution in Southeast Asia. All work except for the final exam was web-based. The first half of the modules saw students write book reviews they then uploaded to Google Books and Goodreads. In the second half of the module, students created Wikipedia entries on topics of their choice. Wikipedia-based projects, I will argue, represent an exciting opportunity to create humanities modules that allow students to engage in the public and genuinely useful production of knowledge. In my presentation, I'll touch on aspects of module design, discuss how the module worked in practice, highlight some of the more exciting outcomes of the classes, and invite discussion of ways to improve the modules and apply the ideas to other contexts.
Saving lives from disaster and disease by
training HeroRATS
Our Mission
To become the Centre of Exellence in detection rats technology, to enhance the impact of life saving actions in vulnerable communities
Why rats?
The African Giant Pouched Rat
...is an intelligent creature, easily conditioned, loves to do repetitive tasks if rewarded with food
...has a highly developed sense of smell
...has an 8-year lifespan with several productive years after initial 1 year of training
...is lightweight, so cannot set off a mine
...compared to dogs: cheaper to breed, feed, house, maintain and transport, does not get attached to one trainer
What trained rats can do?
Search 100m 2 of suspected land in 20 minutes what would take a manual deminer 2 full days
Screen 70 sputum samples for TB in 20 minutes what would take a lab technician 2 full days
Generic technology: wide variety of spin-off applications
Impact Mine Action
Trained 53 HeroRATS in 2008
Tasked by the Mozambican Government with the entire Gaza province, with 3.7 Km2of minefields
Assessed 38.5 Km of highway in South Mozambique
Cleared over hundreds of landmines, explosive devices and ammunition
Endorsed by 11 African Great Lakes Region Governments for replication on their territories
Impact TB screening
Proof of principle for TB-screening by means of HeroRATs
87% overall accuracy in real world circumstances (37% for Microscopy)
15,041 suspected patients screend in Dar Es Salaam since January 2008
Among them, HeroRATs diagnosed 577 patients, missed by microscopy
Increased TB case detection by 31.4% in a target population of 500,000 capita
APOPO current funding
Public governments and institutions
Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining
Belgian Federal, regional and local governments (DGDC, Flemish Community, Province of Antwerp)
National Institute of Health (USA)
Private Support
Skoll Foundation
ASHOKA Innovators for the Public
Schwab Foundation
King Baudouin Foundation
UBS Optimus Foundation
Marie & Alain Philippson Foundation Citizen based support Through 'Flowers for peace'
HeroRAT adoptions
Partners
Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
Sokoine University, Morogoro, Tanzania
Tanzanian Peoples Defense Forces
International Conference for the Great Lakes Region
Max Planck Institute, Germany
National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania
APOPO Is a Belgian-Tanzanian social enterprise, established in 1998 at the University of Antwerp, in close cooperation with Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
Over 100 employees in Africa
R&D team, Trainers, Logistics, Maintenance & Breeding, In country operations, Management
Annual operating budget > $1.5 million
We invite you to support us and to visit our operations in Africa!
http://www.apopo.org
http://www.herorat.org
Presentation on media and communications in humanitarian response. Presented at Fordham University's International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance course (IDHA), Berlin, Germany, March 2013.
Wikipedia as a teaching tool in humanities modulesCIT, NUS
By Gerard Sasges
For me, the internet is a great way to allow educators in the humanities to build classes around outcome-based projects rather than around exams or other assignments. In this presentation I'm going to discuss a graduate modules I taught at NUS in SEM 1 of AY2012-13, SE5213. The module's subject was revolt and revolution in Southeast Asia. All work except for the final exam was web-based. The first half of the modules saw students write book reviews they then uploaded to Google Books and Goodreads. In the second half of the module, students created Wikipedia entries on topics of their choice. Wikipedia-based projects, I will argue, represent an exciting opportunity to create humanities modules that allow students to engage in the public and genuinely useful production of knowledge. In my presentation, I'll touch on aspects of module design, discuss how the module worked in practice, highlight some of the more exciting outcomes of the classes, and invite discussion of ways to improve the modules and apply the ideas to other contexts.
