Who are your heroes?

Friends, professional athletes, world leaders, your parents? How about rats? If you always thought rats were just pesky rodents, think again—HeroRATS save lives.

These sniffer rats in Tanzania are trained to detect explosives and diagnose disease through a special technology called vapor detection. Developed by Belgian and Tanzanian researchers and animal trainers, the technology uses the extreme sensitivity of the rats' noses to sniff out the TNT, DNT and RDX vapors emitted by landmines. The rats are also learning to diagnose diseases like Tuberculosis (TB) by smelling human sputum samples.

The researchers and the HeroRATS are part of an organization called APOPO, which was started in the mid-1990s by Bart Weetjens. As a kid in Belgium, Bart loved his pet rats. When he grew up, he learned about the problem of landmines in many countries in Africa, and he wanted to help. He remembered how well his childhood pets could smell, and he came up with a plan involving Gambian rats, also known as African giant pouch rats. Supported by an international network of partners, APOPO operates within Africa, sniffing out mines in Tanzania, Mozambique and Uganda and employing native Tanzanians as the majority of its staff.

Ever since Dr. Jane visited their programs in 2005, she has been a big fan of HeroRATS and APOPO, which are now partners of Roots & Shoots. You can read about her visit on pages 8-9 of the Spring/Summer 2005 Roots & Shoots newsletter.

If you're a fan of HeroRATS, you can get involved to help them save lives in Africa:

Join the rat community
Visit the HeroRATS blog, become a HeroRATS friend on Facebook and sign up for HeroRATS updates.

Adopt a rat
Help APOPO cover the cost of HeroRATS' care and training by adopting a HeroRAT for only 5 € (about $7.30 USD). You'll receive photos, updates and an official HeroRAT Adoption Certificate, as well as the opportunity to correspond via email with your HeroRAT and trainer. Email HeroRATS to adopt Allan, Ziko, Chosen One or Kim. 

Bring rats to school
If you're an educator, consider tying HeroRATS into your curriculum. You could relate it to history by discussing the effects of war or to science by learning about the vapor detection technology. If you're a student, tell your teacher about HeroRATS and how your class could learn from the rats.

Write about rats
Use the power of the pen to spread the word about landmines, TB and HeroRATS. Write a letter to the editor or a column in your community newsletter to inform others about what HeroRATS are doing in Africa. As a voice for HeroRATS, you'll have earned the right to wear a HeroRAT badge.

Be a rat ambassador
Channel your rat passion by giving a presentation to your Roots & Shoots group, your school class or your family and friends. Hand out HeroRAT info and fact sheets and be sure to sport your "This rat smells better than I do" T-shirt.

Have a HeroRAT project in mind? Share your idea in the "APOPO HeroRATS" forum of the Roots & Shoots Discussion Boards.