Laurel Anne Hill

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Now on AOL News: Support your Local Hero Rat (by Laurel Anne Hill)

A HeroRAT in Training (Photo by APOPO)

Giant pouched African rats have a nose for success.
 

APOPO, a registered charity in Belgium and based in Tanzania, has trained these long-whiskered critters to sniff out unexploded land mines and save human lives. Working for rewards of banana slices and peanuts, “Hero Rats” schooled in Tanzania have become amazingly proficient at smelling TNT on the job in Mozambique.

The problem is, APOPO’s rats need the support of more humans. Even heroes need heroes.

Read the rest on AOL News.   

And while you are reading, keep the following in mind.  Seventy countries have buried, unexploded land mines–deadly remnants of war.  Six million land mines lie buried in Angola, alone.  In 2008, land mines claimed 5,200 casualties worldwide.  To add to the toll, the presence or suspected presence of land mines in agricultural fields has removed significant acreage of fertile soil from use in affected countries, reducing the ability of vulnerable communities to provide for themselves.

By the way, Gina Misiroglu of Red Room put me in touch with the AOL editorial staff, which is one of the wonderful ways she is bringing traffic to Red Room and getting attention for Red Room’s authors.  Thank you, Gina!

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com