Derreck Kayongo went thorough a lot in in childhood. He was born in Uganda and left his homeland during the Idi Amin Dada era, escaping to Kenya with his family as a refugee. He eventually moved to the United States. He is now an American citizen.In response to his past, Kayongo has been devoting his life to causes related to human condition throughout the world. For such reasons, he has worked for several organizations, amongst which Amnesty International, American Friends Service Committee and CARE International.
His latest social initiative was to found the Global Soap Project. As Kayongo was staying in a Philadelphia Hotel, he noticed that the cleaning crew was throwing out barely used soap. He decided to create a Non-Profit Organization that recycles that partly used soap and makes new soap out of it. This soap is then shipped to African refugee camps where there is an incredible need for sanitation. Two million children die every year from respiratory diseases and diarrhea. Kayongo believes that those two illnesses could greatly be diminished by increased sanitation. This year, Derreck Kayongo was named one of CNN's top 10 heroes.
Two aspects of Kayongo's story inspired me. First, because he rose from former refugee to philanthropist and entrepreneur, which is an achievement it itself. But also, for the fact that he didn't only have a creative idea that was both environmentally friendly and helpful to people in need, but that he actually put it into action. Many have ideas... few have the determination and perseverance to make it happen.
If you are interested, here is the link to the CNN video:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/06/16/cnnheroes.kayongo.cnn
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