Zanzibar

I hope this blog entry finds you all well! The past week has been a busy one with a trip to Zanzibar and many village visits. Although we are all happy for rain, it likes to play games with our internet! Sorry for the lack of posting :)


A view we enjoyed on the 2 hour ferry ride to Zanzibar!


An art market in Zanzibar that we did plenty of shopping at.


The streets of Stone Town.


In the morning we ate breakfast in the roof of our hotel. In the distance the fisherman were coming in after their night of fishing.


A memorial at the Anglican Church. The church was built at the sight of the slave market and the alter is located where the auctioning platform used to be.


We toured a spice farm. When we finished they had given us hats and ties to wear that were made from various plant leaves.


The beginning of a collection of spices we had seen.


The beach. I know. . . life is rough.


A morning sunrise.

This is just a quick update on our trip to Zanzibar. I hope to share more experiences with you soon.
Enjoy the day- michael

Hero Rats

Friday we went to see where 'Hero Rats' are trained. Hero Rats are sniff out dangers such as land mines and diseases.

I didn't have high expectations before going but I was pleasantly surprised. We were able to see many different steps of the training process. It was really interesting to learn about the rats and the work they are doing. Primarily, they are working in Mozambique after they pass their two year certification process. Most recently, the rats are being trained to detect the sent of TB. TB testing in the hospitals has only about 50% accuracy rate.

Here are some facts that I got from their website www.herorat.org
- Hero Rats have returned 1,312,027 square meters of land back to the population since the start of operations
-In 2009, 620 tuberculosis patients were detected only by rats (the TB tests themselves had come back negative)
-In 2009, they found and neutralized: 169 mines, 181 unexploded ordinance, and 3,871 small arms and ammunition.

I was reminded that wars have a much larger impact then we will ever be able to understand. Land mines are planted during wars but exsist far longer then a war itself. Many communities will up and leave an area if they suspect a land mine in the area.

Last week in town I saw a rat get run over by a daladala. At the time, I didn't have much sympathy for it, but now, I have a new found respect for rats :)



The rats being trained to find the land mines. The beautiful view made me want to work there!


A rat returning after its morning work


The rats training again.



Nothing really to do with Hero Rats themselves, but a pretty flower at the school I thought you might enjoy!

I hope to update you more on the weekend soon. Although I am sure that you are all happy to have had an extra hour of sleep tonight, we now have a 9 hour time difference!

Enjoy the day- michael