Listening to this man’s story was the most moving part of my Camp Mighty experience.
Derreck Kayongo is the co-founder of Global Soap Project, an organization he was compelled to start after he learned about the millions of partially used bars of soap that hotels throw away every day – bars of soap that could help save tons of lives. Derreck has teamed up with over 1,000 hotels in North America to recycle their partially used soaps, make new soap, and ship it to areas of the world where people are needlessly dying due to health-related issues that could be avoided by simple hand washing.
As EbonneRuffins wrote in 2011 when Derreck was selected as a Top 10 CNN Hero, Derreck “…is familiar with the stress that poverty and displacement can create. Almost 30 years ago, he fled Uganda with his parents because of the mass torture and killings by former Ugandan military dictator IdiAmin.”
This experience directly influenced the development of his soap project.
“We lost everything…We didn’t live in the camps, but we sacrificed a lot. The people worse off lived in the camps. Soap was so hard to come by, even completely nonexistent sometimes. People were getting so sick simply because they couldn’t wash their hands.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sauWSDPBV3g&w=640&h=360]
Derreck has an amazing story and he delivers it in super inspiring way or, as he might say, with “panache.” I feel so lucky to have been in that room on Friday morning. He inspired me to be better and do more, and here’s how I’m going to start.
See the new I Support section at the top of my blog? That spot is always going to be filled with some type of philanthropic organization that I believe in.
Through the end of this month I’ll be supporting my husband as he participates in Movember, a movement to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives. In December that box will be filled with the Global Soap Project logo and a link to show you how to become involved. January 2013 and the rest of next year have yet to be decided. If you have ideas feel free to leave them in the comments section or on my Facebook page.
Ideas, people. Ideas.
Ideas become real things that can improve or save someone’s life.
How awesome is that?
P.S. If you want to learn what Derreck taught me about business, check out today’s post on genuineMIX.
xoxo