Feel Good Friday - APOPO Revisited

Six years ago, I wrote a post about APOPO, not knowing that one day I’d have a chance to visit the APOPO Visitor Center in Siem Reap. That makes today a perfect time to revisit this organization.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Morogoro, Tanzania, the mission of APOPO is "to develop detection animals technology to provide solutions for global problems in developing countries." They do this by training African giant pouched rats and technical survey dogs, nicknamed HeroRATs and HeroDOGs, to detect landmines and tuberculosis using their extraordinary sense of smell. 

Cambodia remains one of the most landmine-contaminated countries in the world, with an estimated 4 to 6 million mines and unexploded ordnance still buried in the soil. Since beginning operations there in 2014, APOPO has destroyed 8,008 landmines, 43,932 items of unexploded ordnance, and returned more than 73 million square meters of safe land to local communities.

These results are made possible by the speed and accuracy of the HeroRATs. The rats can detect the scent of explosives and search an area the size of a tennis court in just 30 minutes, a task that can take a human deminer with a metal detector up to four days. Each rat undergoes about a year of intensive training before being deployed to real minefields. In December 2025, 20 mine detection rats completed accreditation in Cambodia, increasing the team's capacity. 

Beyond landmine detection, APOPO has expanded into new lifesaving applications. HeroRATs now detect tuberculosis in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Mozambique, identify wildlife trafficking products at commercial ports, and they're developing search and rescue capabilities for disaster response. 

APOPO has had a big impact in the communities they serve. They’ve destroyed more than 170,000 landmines and explosives globally and returned over 132 million square meters of safe land to communities, freeing more than 2.5 million people from the threat of explosives.

You can support APOPO in many ways. Adopt a HeroRAT to sponsor their training and work, make a donation, shop for merchandise, or visit the Visitor Center in Siem Reap. You can also amplify their message on social media by following APOPO on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube and share stories of these hero animals with your network.

Speed Building in Siem Reap

Can 15 people really build two houses in 4 days? You can if you've got an organized plan and friends in the neighborhood. 

I arrived in Siem Reap on Sunday and met up with the rest of the volunteer crew. We learned we'd be building houses for two young families under the supervision of the Volunteer Building Cambodia foremen. Our team started by tearing down the house one of the families was living in (the family on the right in the photo below). That only took 45 minutes and repeated shaking off the insects that were also living there and falling out as the walls and roof came down.

I spent most of the day painting my pants, shirt, hat, gloves and also some siding that will go on the house. There are only two VBC builders and the rest of the helpers are people in the neighborhood. Our favorites are a badass grandma and a man we have dubbed Paris Fashion Week because of his Coco Chanel bucket hat and sunglasses. After our crew leaves around noon, these people keep working to make sure we're on track for the 4 day schedule.

Day two started with a blessing before the ground breaking so that it would be a safe build for everyone. Too bad that didn't happen on day one when two of the volunteers had to go to the clinic - one for severe dehydration and the other to get 4 stitches in a cut on her arm. They are both okay now and it was an excellent scared straight way to remind us all to stay hydrated and be careful.

After the blessing, we raised the frame that was assembled while we were visiting the Hero Rats at APOPO. More on that coming up on Feel Good Friday. I spent the rest of the morning painting, varnishing shutters, and helping build scaffolding. It's all going very quickly and I can't wait to see what gone done after we left today.

We finished our day with a visit to the market and a cooking class where we made spring rolls, chicken amok and pumpkin custard inside pumpkins. All very delicious.

The photo dump is below. I'll add photos of me as I get them from other people. In the meantime, please enjoy the stylings of Paris Fashion Week. 

From Kings to Killing Fields

Before I get started, please know it's difficult to attach photos to this blog from my phone and trying to position them among the text nearly impossible so if you're here for the photos, they're all at the end of this post. And in reverse order of how I want them to show up (sigh). Now that I got that out of the way... 

It's been a busy two days in Phnom Penh. Starting with a visit to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Amazing architecture, emerald Buddhas, silver elephants and roaming cats. I'd love to tell you more about the history but I opted not to hire a guide and the map was not so informative. Gives me something to look up later. 

Afterwards, I used an app to order a $1 tuk tuk ride to Wat Phnom, a temple on a hill that houses four Buddhas found by Lady Penh and a colony of flying fox bats! I spent most of my time there watching, and listening to, the bats. They sound like birds and kind of look like them when they fly around. So cool. 

A short visit to the Central Market where I was too overwhelmed to buy any of the items on offer, clothes, jewelry, electronics, souvenirs, haircuts, fish, crabs, fruits and vegetables. The building is art deco style and there are 4 entrances. Much like parking your car, it helps to pay attention to which side you enter if you want to exit the same way. 

Next was a sunset cruise on the Tonle-Sap River. Lovely to get little history while enjoying the view and marveling at the traffic on the river. Tourist boats, fishing boats and car ferrys all vying for a spot on the water. I shared a table with a Finnish couple who plans to move to Phnom Penh in a few years. Then at dinner I met another couple from Australia and China who moved here and haven't looked back. You can rent a house for $100/month and you never have to shovel snow out of your driveway. Most exciting if you're coming from Finland. Time to start rethinking your retirement. 

Today, I went on a tour of the Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. It was as grim as you imagine, maybe even more so. If you don't want details, skip to the photos. 

The area we went to is one of many killing fields in Cambodia where the Khmer Rouge executed people and left them in mass graves. Flooding in the area is causing the ground to sink and pieces of clothing and bones are surfacing as a result. There is a stupa on the site where the bones of almost 9,000 people are being kept. Our guide shared the story of his parents and their experience during that time. He also shared more gruesome details about the site which I will spare you. It's hard but important to witness. 

Then we went to the museum. A former high school where the Khmer Rouge took people to interrogate, torture and kill. Walking through the buildings there are room after room with hundreds of photos of people that were taken when they arrived. Of the 20,000 people sent there, only 12 survived - 4 of whom were there answering questions and selling books they wrote about the experience.

After all of that, what can you do to lift your spirits? Go to Walk Street - a temporary pedestrian only zone that stretches over a mile along the riverfront. Grilled meat and seafood, matcha soft-serve ice cream, vendors, performers and hundreds of people walking, eating and hanging out. I walked all the way to the night market where I ordered "friend" noodles with pork (that's what the menu said) and got a huge, delicious portion for only $2.50. There are mats all over the ground for people to sit and eat their food. It was a wonderful way to see the resilience of the Cambodian people all while soaking up some culture and getting my steps in.