In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the extraordinary and self-made entrepreneur Mr. Derreck Kayongo inspired Lake Highland Preparatory’s Upper School students and faculty members with his survival story as a Ugandan refugee. He shared his successes in entrepreneurship and humanitarianism during a weekly unity meeting. Kayongo encourages people to dream big and do incredible things, even if goals seem impossible. Mr. Kayongo emphasized this through his memorable acronym: S.E.L.F, which stands for Service, Education, Leadership, and Faith. These principles got him to where he is today and were also heavily believed by Martin Luther King Jr. himself. These principles are reflected in not only his civil rights advocacy and speeches, but also in his life, to which Derreck Kayongo shared during his assembly appearance.
As Derreck Kayongo walked onto the stage with his contagious smile and confident, bubbly personality, no one would ever have expected the hardships he struggled with as a Ugandan refugee. When Kayongo was just 10 years old, he watched as a firing squad mercilessly killed civilians right in front of him in his home village. Eventually, Mr. Kayongo and his family fled Uganda, due to the violence of the Civil War that was occurring, and became refugees. Life as a refugee was a challenge for Mr. Kayongo and his family, but it gave him the desire to help others from a young age. In the late 1990s, Mr. Kayongo and his family were able to move from the refugee camp in Uganda to the United States, where Mr. Kayongo went to college at Clark Atlanta University.
After settling in the United States, Mr. Kayongo began working in the hospitality industry. One night when Mr. Kayongo was staying at a hotel, he had a simple observation. Mr. Kayongo walked into the bathroom and noticed there were three different types of soap: hand soap, face soap, and body soap. This was odd to him because where he grew up, he was used to one soap for everything, not separate soaps with different functions. He began stealing the soap and watched as it was replaced for multiple days. Finally, he took all the soap he stole back to the concierge, scared by the fact that he did not want to be charged for all the soap he collected. The hotel workers told Mr. Kayongo that the soaps were free of charge, and the hotel staff actually threw guests’ used soaps out every single day. This simple revelation shocked Mr. Kayongo because he didn’t know that they waste so much soap daily. Mr Kayongo explained that 2.6 million bars of soap are thrown out every single day by hotels in the U.S. alone. This caused Mr. Kayongo to think about how so many children die due to lack of hygiene, ultimately sparking the idea in his mind to figure out a way to repurpose soap for better use.
This prompted Mr. Kayongo to ask, “How do people recycle soap?” Cleaning the dirty soap makes it more expensive because of what is used to clean it. Mr. Kayongo saw a product being marketed that vacuum-sealed meat in a bag. He put soap in a similar vacuum-sealed bag for two weeks, and the germs ended up dying without altering the chemical components in the soap. Soon after, the Global Soap Project was born. Mr. Kayongo’s Global Soap Project would first go through the process of collecting discarded soap, recycling it, and then distributing it mostly to refugee camps and areas with poor sanitation. To help families for a whole year, Mr. Kayongo would each family a box of 161 bars of soap.
Mr. Kayongo shares his story because he wants it to be known by everyone that they can achieve their dreams and make an impact on the world. Mr. Kayongo moved to the United States after being a refugee and was able to help save lives throughout the world just through his simple observation of the mass soap waste. Mr. Kayongo encourages people to stay motivated by S.E.L.F. To serve others and the community is an amazing way to make a difference and get an idea out there that will make a lasting impact. Leading people through business ideas will help get them on board with the developing idea. Having faith within is one of the most important steps because without motivation and determination, that dream cannot be possible. Mr. Kayongo advises those who are inspired but struggle to get started. He explained, “People always think they do not have the right resources because they have their imagination locked in a small box. There are resources all over the place. In school, teachers are a great resource because they know a lot, or in a university, the professors know a lot. Staying in touch with all the people that go to school with you is a great resource because one day you might need them. You would be surprised how many people are resources, such as your friends.”
By sharing his story, Mr. Kayongo hopes for everyone to use their imagination and believe in themselves to get places they only dreamed of. Martin Luther King Jr. heavily believed in equality, and the Global Soap Project unifies humans with a basic right: sanitation. As Martin Luther King says, “The time is always right to do what is right,” which correlates with Mr. Kayongo’s message of striving for people to start now on whatever ideas they have that could impact the world in a tremendous way.
