It’s not like other soap factories, nothing the size of Ivory, Dove, or Irish Spring. It does not compare in scope and distribution to Zest, or brands like Soft Soap. It’s just a little hole in the wall operation, working on a shoestring in Norcross, Georgia. It’s just a few dedicated people who are making a difference in the lives and health of millions of people in third world nations around the world. It is called simply, the Global Soap Project. The Global Soap Project is the brainchild of Derreck Kayongo, a CNN Hero of the Year nominee in 2011. Derreck, a native of Uganda, arrived in the United States in the early 90’s and quickly saw the amount of soap being wasted in hotels and motels across America. Used once or twice these small bars of soap were discarded into the trash and landfills. He decided something needed to be done, since much of the emerging world was without soap and America had so much of it they were throwing it away. He determined to start a program where the soap from hotels and motels was recycled to serve the needs of soap poor third world nations. To accomplish this he started the Global Soap Project, and its outreach has skyrocketed ever since. Hotel groups, such as the Hilton Worldwide, have become involved in his program, and today a group of volunteers are working out of a warehouse north of Atlanta to process tons of soap for distribution to the third world. On their website are some startling facts that include:
1.4 million deaths can be prevented each year by hand washing with soap.
7 million children have died due to disease that could have been prevented with proper hygiene since 2009.
Children under 5 who wash with soap can reduce their risk of pneumonia by 50%.
Hand washing by birth attendants before delivery reduces mortality rates by 19%.
Hand washing with soap can reduce diarrhea morbidity by 44%.
1/3 of the worlds soap is used by the U.S.
10 billion pounds of soap are produced each year.
Members of the Malawi Project Board of Directors recently toured the Norcross facility with Executive Director Sam Stephens, and were deeply impressed with the program, its focus, and the commitment of its staff to reach emerging nations with an effective deterrent to disease and death. And what about the hole in the wall, shoestring budget operation? Richard Stephens observes, “Somehow after going through the facility and seeing this first class operation focused on doing good and helping the poor, you fail to remember the outside of the building as you leave the property. You are left with the feeling you have just seen a really big important, and successful soap factory.”
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Global Soap Project
6899 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Suite B
Norcross, GA 30092
Office telephone: 678-235-8095
Warehouse phone: 678-421-1681
email: info@globalsoap.org
http://www.globalsoap.org/