In 2017 two of our committee members Louis and Clare Varley had the fantastic opportunity to visit APOPO at their HQ in Morogoro.

Well, the countdown begins as they fly out on the 23rd of July. Both Clare and Louis will be documenting their journey on twitter and facebook during their 10-day trip.

APOPO is based 183km from Dar es Salaam, the nearest major city and is a large town with a population of around 300,000 people. A fitting place for APOPO to train their HeroRats for TB detection with a sister testing facility in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is one of the worlds top 30 TB countries in the world and since introducing HeroRats have increased the national detection rates by 40%.

“This was a huge opportunity and allowed us to roll it into a holiday for us both visiting something close to our hearts. It’s going to be a great opportunity to not only make contacts at APOPO but also share the knowledge we have as keeping these fantastic animals as pets – Louis Varley

Louis and Clare will get a guided tour of the APOPO training facilities, meeting staff and trainers as well as, of course, the HeroRats themselves.

Expect lots of pictures and tweets throughout their travels!