Derreck Kayongo started the Global Soap Project in 2009 to collect partially used hotel soap and reprocess it into new bars to donate to refugees in Africa who were vulnerable to disease. Beginning by enlisting local Atlanta hotels to donate soap and experimenting in his basement, within 5 years the Global Soap Project expanded its operations globally and now produces millions of bars of soap per year to improve hygiene and public health. Derreck was recognized as a Top 10 CNN Hero in 2011 for his work helping address health issues in Africa through soap collection and distribution.
2. Derreck Kayongo is a Top 10 CNN Hero of 2011,
notable for his Global Soap Project, collecting partially
used hotel soap and reprocessing it to save lives.
Born in Uganda
Had education at Eastern University.
3. In 2009 when Derreck met a veteran hospitality
executive, he thought that if they were to take
discarded soap from hotels and turned it into new bars
, it would help a refugee camps that were vulnerable to
diseases
Derreck and his wife Sarah were anxious to get started
with their Global Soap Project which was to collect
soap and donate it to needy Africans.
4. Derreck and his wife began to enroll local Atlanta
Hotels and spent their weekends collecting soap and
experimenting with various soap making techniques in
their basement.
5. 5 years later, the global soap project has expanded
operation from the basement of the Kayongo family to
becoming a leading global health organisation with
large reprocessing facilities producing millions bars of
soap per year.
In 2011, Derreck was named a Top 10 finalist for the
CNN Hero Award
