Search results for: HeroRats

APOPO was our Human Rights beneficiary for the fourth quarter of 2013. Development Manager Chris Hines shared this report on how APOPO will use the grant they received from FBB. FBB members donated $10,700 to APOPO last quarter.

Dear Foundation Beyond Belief Supporters,

Thank you for your generous donations to APOPO through Foundation Beyond Belief. Due to your generosity, Foundation Beyond Belief supporters raised $10,700 for APOPO and the HeroRATs! We believe that the sum of our efforts is truly magnified by the valuable contributions of people like you. 

Your support will be used in Tanzania to train rats to detect landmines, a vital part of APOPO’s operations. The nine-month training program transforms the rats from tiny babies to confident, big, and friendly HeroRATs. For more information, see our training program infograph. We hope you feel like a part of our team and we invite you to share in our successes. 

Our demining teams help return land to local populations, offering villagers safe return to their homesteads and access to vital farmland. To date, our Mozambique Mine Action program has destroyed over 2,900 landmines, released over 8.5 million square meters of mine-free land, and has handed over a mine-free Gaza province to the local communities over one year before the deadline. APOPO Mine Action has also started in Angola in partnership with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), one of the leading humanitarian mine clearance operators in the country. 

In Tanzania, we continue to address the challenges of screening for the deadly but curable disease tuberculosis (TB). To date, we have discovered over 4,700 TB-positive patients who were initially misdiagnosed by microscopy at local hospitals. This has helped increase the detection rates in partner hospitals by over 30%. To track and treat patients, APOPO recently established a partnership with a Tanzanian organization, MKUTA, which is composed of former TB patients for patient follow-up and support. APOPO has replicated the successful TB program in Maputo, Mozambique. In the program’s first year in 2013, over 500 TB patients have been found by the HeroRATs, along with establishing partnerships with eight local hospitals. 

No need to worry about the HeroRATs—they are in no danger since they are too light to set off the landmines and we deactivate the tuberculosis samples before presenting them to the rats. Animal welfare is a top priority at APOPO and we make sure to pamper our rats so they can work hard to save lives! 

Remaining true to our core values of innovation, social transformation, quality, and diversity, APOPO has 99% of its workforce in developing countries and 95% are hired from local communities. This significantly contributes to the economic development of the areas where APOPO maintains operations.

Your support helps APOPO to continue with our lifesaving efforts and we are truly grateful that you share our vision to help solve some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Together, we are saving lives and limbs.

Warm regards,

Chris Hines on behalf of the HeroRAT team
Development Manager, APOPO vzw

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By AJ Chalom, Humanist Giving Program Coordinator

In 2013 we decided to revisit some of our early beneficiaries. As our membership and donations have grown, our grants to beneficiaries have increased almost ten-fold. We also wanted to introduce our newer members to the work of outstanding previous beneficiaries.

Our Challenge the Gap Encore, Buddhist Global Relief, concentrates on helping communities that tackle food and hunger issues. BGR uses Buddha’s statements that “hunger is the worst kind of illness” and “the gift of food is the gift of life” as a guide to their hunger relief work.

Innocence Project of Texas is a groundbreaking organization that fights for the wrongly convicted and for the use scientific forensic evidence in trials in Texas. Their model for reforms should be a model for our country.

EcoHealth Alliance made its Encore appearance as our Natural World beneficiary. Their concentration on animal health in tandem with human health makes their approach unlike that of many other Natural World charities. Their work with bats is a great example of that approach.

Roots and Wings International, our Education encore beneficiary, is a small and effective rural education program working with indigenous people in coffee-growing regions of Guatemala.

Staff Picks

While we support all of our beneficiaries with the same enthusiasm, there are always a few organizations that are game-changers against which we measure our future beneficiaries. This year, three organizations fit that bill.

The Citizens Foundation, an education organization in Pakistan, has created an incredibly efficient system to build not only schools but curriculum, teacher training, and gender equality in communities. They employ almost all women, for positions from cook to teacher. They work with families to encourage the women to work. A van picks up the teachers to take them to work, so that their husbands can be comfortable with the arrangement. At least 50% of their students are female. This organization is funded at least 50% within the country, and was founded by industrialists within Pakistan who wanted to fix a problem. They have found success.

One Acre Fund uses a market-based model and superior farming techniques to teach residents to create productivity and self-sufficiency in their efforts. Once One Acre Fund enters a community, they stay to provide continuing support and to ensure that the program is effective.

Apopo is a human rights charity that is almost unbelievable in its accomplishments. Significant science-based studies were employed before they launched their program. Apopo’s HeroRATs are trained to locate buried landmines. The rats are so light that they don’t set off the landmines, but they signal to their trainer the location of the mine, and it is then diffused and removed. If that was not enough, after a tuberculosis outbreak in an area where Apopo was working, they discovered that with a little training the rats could also identify patients with a high probability of having tuberculosis, much faster than blood tests, therefore allowing for proper isolation and treatment of patients. This is not fiction—it is real. Foundation Beyond Belief has created a kids’ guide to Apopo and their work.

By the Numbers

While we try to measure our impact in success stories and increased productivity and the ability to help others, and not just in terms of the dollar amounts raised, here are the exciting numbers we achieved in 2013. This year, we have been able to give individual grants of more than $10,000 for the first time. In mid-July, FBB reached $1 million in donations since its inception in 2010 (including donations to our Humanist Giving program, our Humanist Crisis Response drives, our Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Light The Night international team, and donations to FBB itself).

In 2013, FBB’s Humanist Giving and Crisis Response programs distributed approximately $255,000 to 28 deserving organizations. (This includes donations allocated for the fourth quarter of 2012 that were distributed in January 2013.)

Our community’s continued support of FBB allows us to make these life-changing grants. Our year-end drive has raised more than $14,000—thank you! If you would like to contribute, click here.

The year is swiftly drawing to a close—this is your last chance to distribute your donations among our five featured beneficiaries for the fourth quarter of 2013. Here’s a quick look at this quarter’s amazing beneficiaries:

Water Ecuador is working to improve access to clean water in rural Ecuador. Their water centers help the local communities in a number of ways: Each center provides affordable, clean water (up to 8,000 liters every day) at about one-fifth the price of water shipped in from a major city, and then they use the revenues generated by water purchases to pay for maintenance of the water center and the water manager’s salary. Pathfinders Project will be working with Water Ecuador in 2014 to help with clean water education and construction of their newest water center. 

Bat Conservation International is leading the crusade to educate people about the importance of bats to our ecosystems, and to protect bats from the many threats facing them today. White-nose syndrome is an epidemic decimating North American bat populations—BCI is working to stop the spread of the disease through education and outreach. They also work to protect bat habitats, like the Bracken Cave in Texas, where a new housing development could mean disaster for the local bats.

Roots and Wings International improves access to education for indigenous people in Guatemala. Their college scholarships allow students to train for skilled professions and then return to their home community to put their education to work. In 2011, FBB members funded a grant to RWI that established their Foundation Beyond Belief scholarship. Our FBB scholar, Miguel Lamberto Sohom Tzáj, has used the scholarship to study medicine at University Rafael Landívar en Xela. Each donation of $3,800 is enough to fully fund a scholarship, so FBB member donations in the fourth quarter of 2013 will likely be enough to fund two or three new RWI scholarships. 

Apopo approaches human rights with a unique blend of science, technology, and animal activism—they train African giant pouched rats to search for landmines and screen for tuberculosis. Apopo’s HeroRATs start their training at just four weeks old, beginning with socialization and moving on to honing their exceptional sense of smell. The program creates local jobs in areas such as Thailand, Angola, and Dar es Salaam, where trainers are hired from local populations to work with the organization.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is an interfaith coalition that promotes reproductive health and choice. They focus on the ethical reasons for choice and personal responsibility, using their beliefs to support reproductive rights, and they fight against the often religiously motivated reasoning used to oppose reproductive access on both national and state levels. Recently they’ve been speaking out against overly broad religious exemptions in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and calling attention to the plight of immigrants and undocumented workers, who are vulnerable to violence and have limited access to contraception and reproductive health care.

This quarter’s Small Grant is funding our new FBB Kiva.org account. Starting in 2014, funds raised for this grant will be used to create a Foundation Beyond Belief microfinance account, which will immediately make a significant number of $25 loans. Our goal is to use only secular microfinance institutions (MFIs) and concentrate on loans that have fast repayments (6 to 9 months). The Foundation Beyond Belief Kiva account will join the Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious team.

The Pathfinders are currently in Ghana working with Leo Igwe’s camp for those accused of witchcraft. According to Conor Robinson, the director of Pathfinders Project, “The visit to the camp for alleged witches has been even more meaningful than expected. Internet is limited, but we are working hard to collect the heartbreaking stories of these victims of superstition and prepare them to be shared. The human rights abuses suffered by these women are unimaginable. There is no redress and very little aid.” Earlier this quarter, they worked with Kasese Humanist Primary School, Mustard Seed School, and Isaac Newton High School in Uganda, and the Alliance for African Women’s Initiative in Ghana. Click here to support their ongoing worldwide service trip.

Our year-end fund drive is off to a great start! Thanks to generous donors, we’ve raised about half of our goal of $15,000. Your donations to our year-end drive support our Humanist Giving program, the 80+ secular teams doing volunteer service as part of our Beyond Belief Network, our Humanist Crisis Response program, and the Pathfinders Project and Humanist Action: Ghana, launching in 2014. Click here to make a donation and get our fifth year of compassionate humanism off to a roaring start.

Don’t forget to sign in to your account and allocate your donations for the fourth quarter (on the right side of the page, choose “Manage Donation”).

By Stephanie Jackson-Ali, LMSW

If you’re going to build your nonprofit around a rodent, it’s crucial to select just the right rodent for the job. For Apopo, our current Human Rights beneficiary, that rodent—the HeroRAT—is the African giant pouched rat.

So how did Apopo come to select these specific rats to detect land mines and tuberculosis?

The Founding Idea

The idea was not accidental—from the beginning, Apopo founder Bart Weetjens, a rat owner himself, was certain his beloved creatures were up for the job. According to Apopo’s own foundation story, Weetjens was reading an article about using gerbils as mine detectors. He made the jump to rats, having owned them and trusting their intelligence and availability, and set out to make it happen.
It was a contact of his, Professor Ron Verhagen of the University of Antwerp, an expert on rodents, who first suggested the African giant pouched rat. Verhagen stated the rats had a long life and originated from the area Weetjens wanted to work in, so they would not be a burden on the area.

A Bit About the HeroRATs

The African giant pouched rat, also known as the Gambian pouched rat, is indeed indigenous to Tanzania, where Apopo is headquartered. The rats range across most of sub-Saharan Africa and can often grow up to three feet in length (including their tails).

They’re omnivorous animals, but prefer palm fruits, which you’ll notice in many of Apopo’s pictures of the animals in training. The pouches are important to their eating habits—the rats store food in their cheek pouches while gathering food on their nightly runs.

Two of the more important characteristics of the African giant pouched rat, for Apopo’s sake, are that the animals do not have great eyesight, instead relying on their impressive sense of smell—which is how they are trained in mine and tuberculosis detection. Additionally, the animals are very social and, in the wild, live in large colonies. Both are important in training the animals for their lifesaving tasks as HeroRATs.

A HeroRAT Is Born This Way

After years of trying, Apopo now breeds their own African giant pouched rats, and they start their training at just four weeks old, learning to socialize with people and get used to the stimuli around them.

From there, the rat’s exceptional sense of smell is honed, as they are conditioned with a clicker and given food as a reward when they find a target scent (either TNT or tuberculosis). The rats have to be very discerning—they’ll be tested over and over again until they are accredited and can move on to working in the field with their pet humans and be certified HeroRATs.

Apopo took one man’s love of a childhood pet and used it to tackle a worldwide problem, all while making use of a natural species and innovative science—we couldn’t imagine a better fit for Foundation Beyond Belief.

By Brittany Shoots-Reinhard

FBB staff have been hard at work compiling resources that will help your entire family learn more about our fourth-quarter beneficiaries. We have found online games, books, and even put together kids’ activity sheets. Children can learn more about the natural world, geography, and environmental issues as well as understand the importance of charity as a value. You can find resources to learn more about Bat Conservation International, Apopo, and Water Ecuador below.

Bat Conservation International
Bat Conservation International has a Kidz Cave with bat-themed crafts and educational activities. Bats 4 Kids has even more information about bats and an echolocation game.

Shadows of the Night follows the life of the Little Brown Bat over a year and features beautiful watercolor illustrations.

National Geographic Readers: Bats has pictures and information for early readers about all types of bats and their habitats.

The Bat Scientists describes the work of Bat Conservation International scientists and how they’re combatting white-nose syndrome and saving the lives of hibernating bats in North America.

Apopo
First, check out the kid’s activity guide about Apopo put together by FBB staff.

Apopo founder Bart Weetjens talks about the founding of Apopo in this TED talk. The Apopo website has accessible information about why they use rats and videos showing a day in the life of a HeroRAT detecting landmines and tuberculosis. For younger children, National Geographic Kids: Amazing Animal Heroes describes Apopo’s HeroRATs and two additional stories.

Landmines and war are difficult to talk about with children. Secrets in the Fire and Dear Olly are two novels involving themes of war and the harm done by landmines.

Apopo uses clicker training, which is an effective means of training pets, too. You can find out how to clicker train your pet on the ASPCA website.

University of Michigan’s Museum of Diversity runs an amazing website called Animal Diversity Web. They have information about a variety of animals, including giant pouched rats, like the ones used by Apopo, and many, many species of bats. For younger children, Bats and Rats is a phonics book comparing bats and rats—they’re both nocturnal mammals, but have many differences, too.

Water Ecuador
FBB staff developed an activity guide about water use and conservation for children that is a great starting point. The Syrian Crisis Response beneficiary International Rescue Committee is providing Syrian refugees with water, and the Pathfinders are also working with Water Ecuador and other charities on their international service trip. All of these are referenced in the FBB Water Activity Guide for Kids.

National Geographic has a variety of resources about freshwater conservation, including a kid-friendly water calculator, an interactive guide to freshwater, information about hidden water use in consumer goods, and water conservation tips.

Water Use It Wisely is a great online source of games, resources, and conservation tips.

The EPA has learning resources organized by age group, so you can select the most appropriate tools for your children and games that are fun for everyone.

Water Ecuador focuses on clean water, rather than lack of fresh water. There are tons of microorganisms in drinking water, some harmless and some harmful. Children can explore the amazing life forms hidden in a simple drop of unfiltered water by watching the video referenced in this article or collecting their own sample. They can then try to identify the microorganisms using this guide.

It’s important to help protect our own domestic watersheds to ensure our own supply of freshwater. EPA’s Adopt Your Watershed program lets you find your local watershed and find ways to help.

The Waterhole by Graeme Base is a gorgeous picture book that shows animals from all over the world visiting a shrinking water hole. It is a counting book, an animal book, a geography book, and an excellent way to start a conversation with your children about the importance of fresh water.

Cathryn Berger Kaye and Philippe Cousteau’s Make a Splash! and Going Blue educate kids and teens (respectively) about water ecosystems, environmental threats, and protecting oceans and freshwater all over the globe.

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By Stephanie Jackson-Ali, LMSW

When you picture a hero, certainly the first image that comes to your mind is a rat – yes? Well, once you learn about Foundation Beyond Belief’s current Human Rights beneficiary, Apopo, you probably will!

These rats are not your average city-dwellers, or even your less-average cuddly pet. These truly are heroes. What else would you call an animal that detects mines in some of the world’s most dangerous countries and provinces? What else would you call these critters that are using their innate skills to detect tuberculosis before it gets out of hand?

Apopo approaches human rights with a unique blend of science, technology, and animal activism. They are pioneers in Mine Detection Rat technology. The inventive technology focuses on the attributes the rats already possess (they are intelligent, too light to set off the mines, and easily transportable) with innovation by creator Bart Weetjens to create a unique new program.

The question of how is intriguing for all the scientifically minded, and the organization is very focused on research and evidence. See how they train their rats for mine detection and tuberculosis detection.

The program also creates local jobs in areas such as Thailand, Angola, and Dar es Salaam, where trainers are hired from local populations to work with the organization. And don’t worry about the rats. Founder Weetjens kept them as pets as a boy in Belgium and has a special affinity for the animals – he created the program with their safety in mind as well.

To learn more about how the HeroRATs work, spend a day in the life of one of their HeroRATs-in-training. Whether you’re there for the cute factor or to see the little heroes at work, it is definitely worth the click to check out Apopo and their HeroRATs.