Global Soap founder to discuss his work as a health activist

Global Soap Project founder Derreck Kayongo will speak at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the Cone University Center, McKnight Hall.

Now a successful entrepreneur, Kayongo is a renowned expert in environmental sustainability and global health. At the age of 10, Kayongo and his family fled a civil war in Uganda and settled in the United States. CNN International praised Kayongo for his “transition from the tough life of a refugee to become a college graduate, a U.S. citizen and a field coordinator for CARE International, a private humanitarian aid organization.”

The Global Soap Project, which began in 2009, takes recycled soap and distributes it to people who lack access to it around the world. The organization also provides hygiene education programs. It has worked with the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Partners in Health, CARE and many other organizations in 32 countries throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas, to assist millions of people.

Hygiene-related illnesses are one of the leading causes of death for children in developing countries, resulting in more than 1.8 million deaths each year. Research has shown that soap can reduce diarrheal disease by nearly one-half and rates of respiratory infection by about one-quarter. Hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved each year if people had ongoing access to soap and understood how to properly wash their hands.

In early 2015, Global Soap joined forces with Clean the World. The actual soap recycling is now done by Clean the World, while Global Soap is in charge of all soap distribution and global health programming. Clean the World receives partially used and discarded soap from hotels and recycles it into millions of new bars. Then the Global Soap Project strategically distributes the new soap to people who lack access to it around the world.

The Campus Activities Board is sponsoring this free, public event. Earlier that day, members of the campus community are invited to make their own loofahs and soaps at noon in the Cone University Center, After Hours Lounge.