May 2009 Newsletter

Contents

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Introduction

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Bart's Quote of the Month

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APOPO mandated as lead agency for Mine Action in the Great LakesRegion

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APOPO founder attends Global Philanthropy Forum

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Global Giving hosts event for APOPO

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Meet Mozambique HeroRAT Supervisor: Laurence Kombani

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Support APOPO’s work

Introduction

As the year continues, we hope that the months bring you good luck and muchhappiness! Our HeroRATs are continuing their heroic work in Mozambiqueand Tanzania, sniffing out landmines and Tuberculosis. In April, 68 patients were detected by our Tuberculosis detecting rats. Nice work HeroRATs!In this newsletter issue, you will find information about APOPO signing theMOU with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR); APOPO has been identified as the lead agency for Mine Action in the AfricanGreat Lakes Region. This is an important recognition of our work inMozambique and a great milestone for our future work in Africa!Late last month, Founder Bart Weetjens was in Washington DC to attend theGlobal Philanthropy Forum to discuss APOPO's work. The GlobalPhilanthropy Forum’s main goal is “to build a community of donors and socialinvestors committed to international causes, and to inform, enable andenhance the strategic nature of their work.” Weetjens joined this conversation

with other renowned social entrepreneurs from across the globe. While he wasin DC, Weetjens also spoke at an event hosted by Global Giving, to introduce APOPO to new supporters as well as meet some of our current supporters who were able to attend. Want to learn more about the amazing staff members behind all of our work?In this month’s interview section, you meet Laurence Kombani, one of thesupervisors of for the Mine Dectection HeroRATs and their trainers/handlersin Mozambique. As always we hope you enjoy the newsletter! If you have any suggestions orcomments, please feel free to send them to herorats@herorat.org. We wouldlove to hear from you.

Bart's Quote of the Month

“The future is not about what you HAVE; it is about what you DO, what you SAY, and what you THINK . . . in that order of importance.”

Bart Weetjens

APOPO mandated as lead agency for Mine Action in the GreatLakes Region

In early April, APOPO’s CEO, Christophe Cox, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the International Conference on the GreatLakes Region (ICGLR) and APOPO International. This Memorandum of Understanding mandates APOPO as the lead agency for Mine Action in theGreat Lakes Region. This agreement sanctions APOPO’s work in the region,and will help APOPO to expand lives saving work in the 11 member countriesin the future.The ICGLR is a group of African countries that developed after regionaltragedies to promote peace and stability in the region. There are currently eleven core countries participating: Angola, Burundi, Central AfricanRepublic, Congo (Republic of), Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya,Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Other countries have co-opted into the conference as well: Botswana, Egypt, Malawi, Mozambique,

Namibia and Zimbabwe. The overall goals of the conference are to promotestability, raise the standard of living in the area, improve infrastructure andattract investment.The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Ambassador LiberataMulamula, the Executive Secretary of the ICGLR, and Christophe Cox, CEO of APOPO. Ambassador Begum Taj, the Tanzanian National Coordinator forICGLR, and her Assistant, Togolani Mavura, were also present as witnesses.This agreement is very important for the demining work in Africa, and APOPOis very grateful to play a lead role in this vital work with the ICGLR.

APOPO founder attends Global Philanthropy Forum

The Global Philanthropy Forum was held from April 22nd to April 24th in Washington D.C. The meeting gathered many individuals who have made alarge impact on philanthropy. This years forum centered on issues of poverty at home and abroad, climate change, global access to healthcare, education fora globalized world, and state failure in the wake of conflict. According to theForum, “At the 8th Annual Global Philanthropy Forum Conference in Washington D.C., donors, social investors and emblematic agents of changefrom around the world will gather to strengthen and build the cross-sectoralliances necessary to resolve these interwoven challenges.”Bart Weetjens was invited to participate in the conference, and was chosen asone of the social entrepreneurs featured on the Global Philanthropy Forum website and during the conference. APOPO’s work was spotlighted jointly withother social entrepreneurs on Thursday, April 23rd.The Global Philanthropy Forum was created to build upon a learningcommunity that is committed to global issues and to further informparticipants’ giving through discussion during and after the conference. Theforum is held annually to facilitate discussion on the cutting edge of change.

GlobalGiving Hosts an Event for APOPO

At GlobalGiving on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, Bart Weetjens spoke to anintimate audience of current supporters, neuroscientists, demining colleagues,social entrepreneurs and interested public. Weetjens was able to connect with