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Meet Usseni Ussi
13 April 2012
In 2011, APOPO’s Mozambique Mine Action team found and destroyed 792 landmines, 227 Explosive Remnants of War, 2,683 Small Arms and Ammunition, and released 2,632,608 m² of land in the Gaza Province.
But our work in Mozambique goes beyond these numbers. It is defined by our most valuable asset: the people who make up our incredible team.
Usseni Ussi, an inhabitant of Gaza, knows what it is like to live in fear of the explosive remnants of war that lie hidden in the earth.
“During the time I grew up, there was no demining activity at all. No one could use our land. We could not even walk freely. And the community was very static as a result. There was no growth,” he recalls.
In 2006, Ussi heard about APOPO’s demining work on the radio. When APOPO arrived in Gaza he went to the camp to see the rats he had heard about, and found employment with APOPO’s Mine Detection Rat team.
“I knew that the work would involve taking out landmines," he says. "And that was important to me.”
Now in his fifth year as a Mine Detection Rat handler, Ussi is proud of his work, proud of the rats, and proud of his place on APOPO’s team. “I believe in this approach because I can see it,” he says. “We can already see the benefits. Now, we have access to things we didn’t have access to. We can build. We can grow.”
TB Workshop a Success
15 February 2012
In December, APOPO held a successful TB workshop at our headquarters in Tanzania. Representatives of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Program (NTLP) were invited to take a behind-the-scenes look at our TB Detection Rats, in order to better understand the processes and importance of our collaborative efforts to increase the rate of new case findings in Tanzania.
There were 27 in attendance, including Regional TB and Leprosy Coordinators (RTLCs), District TB and Leprosy Coordinators (DTLCs), and lab technicians from collaborating DOTS Centers. Professor Kazwala, from Sokoine University of Agriculture, was also present, along with members of APOPO’s TB Detection team.
The workshop started with a demonstration of the TB Detection HeroRATs, followed by a video clip explaining how detection rats technology works as a diagnostic tool. The 2011 data was then presented, showing the total number of samples screened by rats during second-line screening, the total number of patients screened, and the additional cases identified by rats, from each of the DOTS centers APOPO partners with. The floor was then opened for discussion.
A newly developed reporting system was also adopted, which is designed to assist the DOTS Centers in calling back patients with new cases identified by the rats. A consensus was reached for all involved to continue working closely to ensure diligent patient follow up. With the new system in place, it is hoped that the NTLP will gather strong evidence that highlights APOPO's contribution to the TB control effort in Tanzania.
A Hero-Sized "Thank you!" from the APOPO team
9 January 2012
2011 was a great year for APOPO and the HeroRATs, and we couldn't have done it without the support of our dedicated friends like you. We filmed this special "Thank you" message at our headquarters in Tanzania, to share what you've helped us to achieve in 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfzlD612qt4&feature=youtu.be
Asante sana! (That's Swahili for: thank you very much!)
HeroRATs are Second Winners in McKinsey's Social Innovation Video Contest
9 January 2012
After 10 days of voting, with over 5,000 votes cast and thousands of supportive Tweets and Facebook “Likes,” the victors of McKinsey’s Social Innovation Video Contest were announced in December – and the HeroRATs were declared Second Winner!
Thanks to the daily support of friends and fans, APOPO’s entry, “Training HeroRATs to sniff out TB,” received 709 votes throughout the ten-day voting period and placed us second out of 11 Finalists. You can watch our one-minute clip here: http://mckinseyonsociety.com/innovate-videos/training-herorats-to-sniff-...
We are honored to be included with First Winner, “Embrace”, and Third Winner, “The sOccket”, whose videos (along with the Fan Favorite Winner submitted by “Duto: IRIS”) can be viewed here: http://mckinseyonsociety.com/innovate/
The top 3 winners will be included in a print edition of McKinsey’s publication What Matters, have the chance to be featured in a special TV program co-produced by Link TV and Viewchange.org, and will be honored at a networking reception in New York City. Winners have also already been featured on the Huffington Post’s Impact Blog!
We’d like to send our gRATitude to everyone who voted for our video in the contest. Thanks for your support!
APOPO HQ: Training, Research & Development
9 January 2012
Last year, our HeroRAT Headquarters in Morogoro, Tanzania, continued transforming ordinary African giant pouched rats into extraordinary mine-detecting and TB-sniffing heroes. As of the end of 2011, we currently have 223 rats in various stages of landmine detection training and accreditation. In June, 20 graduRATs of our HeroRAT training course flew to the minefields of Mozambique to fulfill their destinies as life-saving Mine Detection Rats.
Staff and rats in our Remote Scent Tracing Program have been lending their minds, noses, and energy to detecting and discriminating new scents, such as salmonella bacteria, illegal tobacco, and bedbugs. In addition, preliminary research into the CameRAT application was conducted. This project currently involves training six young rats to search for humans and to respond to a command to return to the site where they were released. Some of these initial research programs may result in operational applications in future, provided the necessary support is secured.
Meanwhile, nestled in their comfortable burrows deep inside our breeding kennels, still other HeroRATs have been hard at work with the rewarding (but tiring!) task of contributing to the next generation of heroes. Between October and December alone, the HeroRAT nursery welcomed 36 new baby rats, eager and willing to learn the ropes in one of our life-saving detection programs.
APOPO-PRO Progress in Thailand
9 January 2012
Our Thailand Mine Action Program headed into the field for the first time in 2011. Equipped with 25 staff and a partnership with the Thai NGO Peace Road Organization (PRO), the team launched a combined Technical and Non-Technical Survey of all Suspected Hazardous Areas in the province of Trat in June.
APOPO-PRO’s tactic of Land Release Methodology is proving essential in accelerating the daunting task of demining the Thai-Cambodian border. Since the start of the survey, the team has been able to confirm that 25% of surveyed land can indeed be re-classified as Confirmed Hazardous Areas, while 75% of the land can be classified as either Canceled Land or Area with Restriction. During the course of the surveys, the Thailand Mine Action Program has found and destroyed 393 landmines and 859 items of unexploded ordnance.
These early results already prove that APOPO-PRO’s aid will be instrumental in bringing an end to Thailand’s deadly landmine problem. In 2012, the team plans to continue their survey in the province of Chantaburi. The longer-term vision is to utilize a team of trained Mine Detection Rats to speed up clearance efforts in the region and further the reach of our program’s impact, provided the necessary funding is secured.
TB Detection: Saving Lives, Crossing Borders
9 January 2012
In 2011, our Tuberculosis (TB) Detection Program, based at our headquarters in Morogoro, Tanzania, served as a second-line screen for more than 10,000 patients who had already been tested for TB via microscopy. Thirty-two trained TB-Detection HeroRATs screened more than 20,000 sputum samples provided by these patients, and detected over 300 new cases of Tuberculosis that had been previously missed in hospitals.
While the detection rats were sniffing and saving lives, their human colleagues were hard at work increasing the capacity and recognition of the program. Our 2010 results were published this year in the Pan-African Medical Journal, and our TB Detection Center started working with the newly developed automated line cage to enhance the HeroRAT training process.
New hospital partnerships were also established, with APOPO’s technicians now gathering patient samples from a total of 11 DOTS Centers. In addition, as part of our ongoing research and development, studies are being conducted to directly compare the rats’ evaluations of samples with the results of fluorescent microscopy (FMs) and the state-of-the-art Cepheid GeneXpert.
The hard work and remarkable results produced by our TB Detection Program in Tanzania has resulted in a huge victory for HeroRATs as a diagnostic method. In October, the Flemish government approved a grant of 590,000 Euros for APOPO to replicate our TB detection successes in Mozambique, another high-burden TB country. The first phase of the project is already underway, and APOPO will spend early 2012 establishing an operational TB capacity in Maputo, Mozambique.
Mozambique Mine Action Achievements
9 January 2012
2011 was filled with milestones for our Mozambique Mine Action Program. Thanks to the intrepid work of the team, which now boasts 44 accredited Mine Detection Rats, a grand total of 748,488 square meters of land was cleared in the Gaza Province of Mozambique. While clearing that land, 787 mines were found and destroyed, along with 220 items of unexploded ordnance and 2,683 small arms and ammunition.
The payoff of this dedication is great: APOPO plans to finish demining of the Gaza Province, which is the most heavily mined province in Mozambique, by early 2012 – a full two years ahead of the 2014 deadline!
The Mozambique Mine Action Program also saw a changeover in management last year. We bid farewell to three-year Program Manager Andrew Sully as he moved to Southeast Asia to pick up the reins of our Thailand Mine Action Program, and welcomed new Program Manager, Tess Tewelde, who came to APOPO from the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).
So what’s next for our resolute team? Once clearance of the Gaza Province is completed in early 2012, the team has been tasked to clear two southern districts of the nearby Manica Province, bringing Mozambique another step closer to being mine-free at last.
Curbing the spread of TB, one sniff at a time
12 October 2011
Our Tuberculosis (TB) Detection Program, based in Tanzania, continues to slow the spread of TB thanks to the efforts of our staff and rats. Our HeroRATs’ effectiveness in rapidly screening large populations is undeniable – between August - September, our rats served as a second-line screen for 2,491 patients. Of these, 498 patients were already found to be TB-positive by a partner DOTS center. While second line sniff-screening the sputum samples provided by the patients, the rats located an additional 59 new cases of TB, which would have otherwise gone unnoticed. These new case findings were then confirmed by APOPO's microscopists. Every new case finding and diagnosis enables a patient to begin their life-saving treatment, reducing the spread of the disease.
Our TB Detection Center has also been making progress in the use of the new automated line cage, which was received in July. It links up to a laptop computer and accurately measures and rewards the rats’ indications with an optical sensor. This avoids human influence but also makes the training process more precise. Rats have taken this high-tech cage for a spin, and four of our youngest TB-detecting rats have begun training in it exclusively. If training in this new set-up continues to go smoothly, APOPO’s TB Detection Program might transition to working only with automated cages.
To learn more about our HeroRATs’ fight against this deadly killer, please visit the Tuberculosis Detection page of the APOPO website: http://www.apopo.org/cms.php?cmsid=22&lang=en.
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