Our Team

Abdallah has been working with APOPO as a trainer since 2002, and he currently trains nine rats in mine detection and REST. He has travelled to Mozambique twice to see the rats in action in a real minefield. Abdallah comes from the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. He has two children and lives in a village near SUA. When he's not working, Abdallah spends his time gardening, and grows delicious mangoes to sell. He also likes to spend time with friends on the weekends. In the future, Abdallah hopes to study forestry and environmental studies, or to start his own business.

Abu has been with APOPO for 9 years and currently trains field rats Kikore, Maridadi, Adibayo, Richard, Omollro, Paris, Sumatra, Song, and Kell. He is 30 years old and comes from a nearby village. He and his wife Regina have a three year old son and plan on having another child in the future. On the weekends he helps his wife around the house, rests and plays football. He hopes that within a year he will be able to buy a cow, so that he can sell its milk. He also hopes that his children will go to college one day.

Abuswai has been training rats for APOPO since 2001. He is from the Moshi region of Tanzania, and now lives in Kididimo village with his wife and five year old daughter. In his spare time Abuswai enjoys gardening, and on the weekends he has a small business selling plants and fruits. Abuswai is also interested in photography, and he sometimes produces DVDs of different celebrations in the community. He would eventually like to run his own shop and restaurant.

Albert has been working with our HeroRATs for six years. He is one of the first to help socialize them and adjust them to life as a HeroRAT. He is 30 years old and from the town of Morogoro where his family lives. Later in life he hopes to have his own family. Albert is a pescetarian and on the weekends he enjoys finding a peaceful place in the forest to sit, relax and listen to the sound of the birds and the trees. Furthermore, he does some farming on the weekend growing flowers and maize. On his family farm, they grow rice. Sometimes he uses his motorcycle as a taxi to make some extra money and he enjoys karate. He is skilled at taking care of animals like our HeroRATs, but also his four rabbits and seven hens.

MOZAMBIQUE: Alberto has worked in demining for many years. He used to work for Norwegian Peoples Aid using dogs to demine. However in 2006, he became curious about the new technology in town: HeroRATs and decided to try something different. He comes from Inhambane province where his wife lives with their three children. He works with Isaa and together they train HeroRATs Shazma, Lahiguerra, Lawino, Samo, and Nash-G.

Alex is one of APOPOs very first employees! He started working with us in 2000 as a laboratory assistant. He comes from Dodoma, but during his youth he spent time in both Dodoma and Morogoro, and has now been living here for 30 years. He is 53 years old, married to Salome, and the father of three children: a five year old girl, an eight year old girl, and a 22 year old son. In his free time he likes to rest and play with his kids, as well as visit with the neighbors. He has a small garden where he grows vegetables, like Chinese cabbage and spinach. He loves to read, especially English books and work on his vocabulary. In the future, he hopes to lead a peaceful life and one where he can provide a proper education to his children.

Amri has been working with APOPO for 2 years and shares landmine rats with Shaibu. His is 33 years old and comes from Morogoro. He has three brothers and three sisters, but is waiting to marry until he can purchase a farm. Hopefully this will happen as soon as possible. In his free time he likes to cook, especially goat and duck and take care of his animals. He also likes to play football and watch TV. Sometimes on the weekends, he helps the community by maintaining and building better roads.

Asnathi has been working here at APOPO for 10 years helping to care for our rats. She is 34 years old and from Iringa where her mother and family lives. She takes care of one of her nieces who is going to school to learn to sew. Together they care for a small maiza farm and five chickens which they are hoping will have chicks soon. On Saturday Asnathi works around the house and on Sunday she goes to church and visits friends. She is a skilled crotchetier and makes a lot of sweaters. In the future, she hopes to build a nice house and start a small business.

Beate has been working with APOPO for five years in the TB facility. She is 27 years old and from the region of Iringa. Her husband John is a carpenter and together they have a 18 month old son. She spends time on the weekend tending to her 20 chickens and vegetable garden. Furthermore, Beate is well known for her sewing skilles, her delicious and delectable breakfast breads and chai.

MOZAMBIQUE: Bruno joined the APOPO team in 2009 and was previously demining with another organization. He has three children and comes from the Beira-Sofala region of Mozambique.

MOZAMBIQUE: Edmundo joined the APOPO team in 2009. Previously, he was working with another demining organization in different area. He is from the Inhambane province, married and has 4 children.

MOZAMBIQUE: Filipe is 43 years old, and worked in the army as a paramedic during the war. The Ministry of Defense sent him for training. Once the war was over however, there was so much need for quick medical response in relation to mine accidents, that he decided to help the demining effort. He joined APOPO in 2006 and has been helping to keep us safe and healthy ever since. He is from Inhambane Province and has two kids.

BERLIN: Mgode is currently working with the Max Plank Institute in Berlin to find the specific compound in tuberculosis that our rats are identifying.

MOZAMBIQUE: Gilberto joined the APOPO team in 2009. Prior to joining us he was a paramedic for another demining organization. He is from the Inhambane province of Mozambique and has 5 children.

Harruni has worked for APOPO for the last five years and is currently one of our TB trainers. There he trains Casey, Giggs, Mario, Alexis, Oliseh, and Ahzia. He trains one landmine rat named Kajala. He is 28 years old and lives in town, near his parents, with his wife Hawa. They have a two year old named Tariq who likes to play with toy cars and trucks. For this reason, Harruni hopes that one day his child will get a good education and become an engineer. Currently, his wife is taking classes in business and hopes to start her own. In his free time, Harruni likes to read and once or twice a month go out with family and friends. He enjoys being around other people and is good at counseling them if they have problems. He can help you make good decisions.

MOZAMBIQUE: Helder has been working with Apopo since 2004. He's 45 years old, from the capital city of Maputo and has three children. He has worked with several other demining companies in the past and likes his work with Apopo.

Heri worked for APOPO for four years before returning to school to become a secondary school teacher in math and geography. Currently, he is back at APOPO while he looks for a teaching position. He trains four landmine rats: Foster, Rumi, Quincy, and Amina, and helps out in REST. He is 33 years old and from the town of Mbeya on the border of Zambia. Some of his siblings still live in Mbeya, some in Zambia. Every Sunday he teaches Sunday School at his church and likes singing and preaching. He has a diploma in rodent training and is part of the Commonwealth Youth Diploma Program. He hopes to get another degree in Business Administration once he can get the funding.

MOZAMBIQUE: Issa is 24 years old and started with Apopo in 2007. He wanted to devote his life to doing good for others and knew that demining was a humanitarian cause he could contribute to. He is originally from Inhambane Province, and does not yet have a family of his own. He currently works with five HeroRATS named Shazma, Lahiguerra, Lawino, Samo, and Nash-G.

MOZAMBIQUE: Januario joined the APOPO team in 2009 and was previously demining with another organization. He has five children and comes from the Zavala region of the Inhambane province.

MOZAMBIQUE: Joaqauin started with APOPO in 2006, but although he had other demining experience, he first joined APOPO as a gardener. During his job as a gardener, he saw that people were working with rats. He was fascinated by this and began helping to take care of them, especially when he started helping our HeroRAT vet! In this way he got used to handling the rats and one day someone asked him to put on a rat harness and go to the field. He liked it and asked to become a handler. Soon a position opened and he became an MDR Trainer. Joaqauin is 31 years old and from Inhambane province. He has four kids and trains the following rats: Zena, Hammer, Ronaldinho, and Snake.

John has worked for APOPO for seven years and trains eleven landmine rats including Alfredo, Maridadi, Sumatra, Adebayo, Kikore, Song, Kelly, Paris, Linny, Mahabuba, Richard. He is 37 years old and originally from the Kilimanjaro region, where his mother still lives. He is married to Elly and they have one daughter named Elizabeth. In the future he hopes that she will be well educated. He is currently in the process of building a new house and when he can finish it, he will be able to rent out their current house. This is how he hopes to fund his retirement. He is good at giving advice, especially at talking to troubled people who are going astray. On the weekends he enjoys going to church, reading the newspaper, and listening to gospel music.

Jones began work with APOPO in January 2010 as a Lab Technologist. He was born in Morogoro, but is family is originally from Moshi. Jones came to APOPO after completing a Bachelor degree in Biotechnology and Lab Sciences at SUA. Outside of work, Jones enjoys chatting with friends on the internet, visiting people, and on Sundays he goes to church. Jones likes going to the gym and playing tennis or volleyball, and he listens to R&B and country music. In the future Jones would like to have a family with two or three children, a good home and a farm.

MOZAMBIQUE: Jose joined APOPO in 2005 as a guard at the Inhambane office, close to his home. He is married and has 3 children and since 2009 has been working with us as a Mine Detection Rat trainer demining the mine-fields of Mozambique. He says, working with rats is a wonderfully new experience for him.

Judy has been working for APOPO for ten years and is 37 years old. She is married and has three children, Sizwe, Zhade, and Zan, and they also have a cat. She is originally from Kenya where her mother and father still live. On the weekend she really enjoys going to one of her two farms where she grows teak trees for wood, bananas, cashews, oranges, mangos and avocados. It is fun to bring the kids and to take them to their favorite restaurant where they like to play. Sometimes she reads and goes to the gym, or travels to Dar es Salaam. In the future, she hopes she will continue to work for APOPO in Tanzania, but she would also really like to open a free or affordable school for Tanzanian children. She really likes working for APOPO because everyone is friendly and that makes for a nice work environment.

Juma has been working for APOPO for three years and shares training 11 rats with Steve. He is 33 years old and comes from the nearby village of Magadu. His parents still live there and he is able to see his sister and brother often. His wife works at home and is a skilled tailor named Hayawi. They share a farm out of town where they go every weekend to tend to their corn, rice, and beans. He has two little boys, Azizi and Yusufu and hopes for 1 to 2 more children. His passion is farming and he hopes one day to have a big farm and a small business selling produce. He believes that if we all work together and cooperate, there will be no problems.

Koba is a long time employee of APOPO, working for us for 9 years now. He helps everyone get around, runs errands, and keeps the office grounds looking great. He is 45 years old and lives in the nearby village of Magadu where he grew up. Although he and his wife Fatuma keep hoping for a girl, they now have four boys from ages three to fifteen. On the weekends, Koba always keeps busy working on the family farm. Here they keep ten chickens, six ducks and two turkeys which they raise for meat and eggs. Also he grows cassava, bananas, and maize which he uses to make ugali, the traditional stiff porridge, to sell for extra income. In the future, Koba hopes to buy a large farm for his children.

MOZAMBIQUE: Kombani has worked for APOPO for 8 years and currently is working in Mozambique. His first job was with the Pest Management Department at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). He was working with the DNA of rats and studying their natural predators in Tanzania. He was working under Robert Machangu, the SUA/APOPO liaison. When Mr. Machangu told them APOPO was coming to Tanzania and asked him to help because he knew the behavior of rats, he jumped at the chance! His is 37 years old and comes from Morogoro where he still lives. On the weekends, Kombani likes to relax at home and go for walks. In the future he would like to start his own business.

Levis has been working for APOPO for about a year now training field rats Fantasia, Sanchez, and Exmoor. Three recently born sibling rats will be joining him as well. Their names are Fame, NCY, and Munizzy. Levis is 30 and comes from Mbeya. His wife, Anne, works as a waitress for the Morogoro hotel. They have a six year old daughter and are hoping for one more child. Levis is a born again Christian and loves to go to church and listen to gospel music. He also likes talking with his neighbors and drawing, especially cartoons. He thinks it would be awesome if he could design clothes, and he often designs his own and takes them to a tailor. Furthermore, he likes fixing appliances and would like to study electronics more.

MOZAMBIQUE: Luis came to APOPO in 2009 from another demining operation in Mozambique. He has been working in demining for many years and brings a lot of experience with him to oversee the day-to-day logistics in the field. Luis is from the Chicohe-Maputo region of Mozambique and is married with 5 children.

MOZAMBIQUE: Vergonha is 48 years old and began his career as a soldier. When the war ended and the demining work was badly needed, he had the option of helping. Many of the civilians were afraid of mines and unexperienced around munitions, so former soldiers were often recruited. For over 25 years he has been working in demining. He started with Apopo in 2008. He is from the Sofala Province and has four kids.