Helping Ugandans Find Refuge in Global Soap

Global Soap Project is a new initiative to bring comfort, health and humanization to people in African refugee camps — in the form of sanitation.

The Project was founded by Derreck Kayongo, a senior level humanitarian relief expert from Uganda who, like the millions of "displaced" Africans who are trying to put their lives back together in refugee camps, has personally experienced the horrific ordeal of fleeing one's home. When Kayongo came to the West and saw, among our other excesses, the waste we make of our sanitation products, he came up with an out-of-the-box idea which has changed the way hotels manage their guest turn-over with a mere extra bag on the housekeeping cart.

What goes in the bag? Unused soap. The soap will be melted down, sanitized and sent to refugee camps in Africa. It's that simple, but not uncomplicated. Everything from lack of funds for transportation to unrest in targeted areas has gotten in Global Soap's way. So far, they've collected over 14,000 pounds of soap, but haven't managed to ship it.

One thing that hasn't hampered is the hotel industry's desire to participate. I spoke with Olivia Brown, the Hotel Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, one of the first hotels to participate in the Atlanta-based initiative, about how Global Soap Project came to them and how it has developed.

Tonic: So, you were with The Global Soap Project from the beginning?

Olivia Brown: Yes, we're one of the first hotels that signed on back in June.

T: And how did that opportunity come to you?

OB: It was at the Buckhead Hotel Council meeting, which is part of Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association, and they invited a guest speaker, Derreck Kayongo. He presented a story about growing up in Uganda and the need for hygiene, and proposed that hotels actually donate their used soap. It was very intriguing, because, as you know, our Community Footprints efforts [include] hunger and poverty, environmental concerns and, of course, disadvantaged children, so it fit so nicely. It sounded relatively easy because he was going to do most of the hard work, picking up the soap once we got it into one location. We quickly jumped on board and said, "Well, let's give it a try!"

T: And has it been easy? You just give him the soap?

OB: Absolutely. The one change we've had to make is that our room attendants, rather than throwing the soap in the trash, which they normally did, we give them a tiny little plastic bag on their cart. In every room that's checked out, they take the soap and put it in the plastic bag, and then they come downstairs and put it in the larger bin, which Global Soap comes and picks up once we say it's full.

T: Do you know how the soap is re-sanitized?

OB: They melt the soaps down and reprocess them, take out all the bad agents. Then they make them into new soap.

T: That's fantastic. Can you think of any reason for hotels not to do this?

OB: No, I can't, and it serves two causes for me: Number one, it gets it out of the landfills, because prior to Derreck coming to pick up the soap, we were just throwing them in the trash. [Number two], if there's any hope that it can get to the children and women in Uganda in the refugee camps, I can't think of any reason not to give it a good whirl and see if it can happen.

T: Has it been getting there yet, or is that still down the line?

OB: Well, they initially planned to do the first shipment over to Uganda at the end of October, but as you know, there was some unrest, some fighting going on over there ... They weren't able to bring the first shipment over, but they've kind of rethought it and said, "Should we be doing this differently?" [They've considered] processing the soap here in America and then sending it. The risk [with the current plan] is that if the fighting goes on, the government might take over the soap plants and everything else — and then, would the soap get to the refugees? They're trying to work through that to see when they're actually going to get the first shipment over there.

T: Are there alternate plans if things can't work out with Uganda? Is there anywhere else?

OB: They will get it over to Uganda, but I think one thing they're looking at is, should they get it reprocessed and cleaned in Clarkston, right here in DeKalb County, and still use refugees to do it, but actually send the soaps over? That would eliminate any risk of [the fighting resulting in the soap plants closing abroad]. I know they're working with sponsors to see if they can donate some soap-making machines to them.

T: Do you know anything about plans for the future of the Project? Are there plans to expand the program?

OB: I think there will be, eventually. They're just trying to make sure everything works, get everything together before they expand, because there are so many hotels ... Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and I think Kentucky was one of the other areas they're going to try to bring on. I've had calls from Boston, they want to do it, and [Global Soap] wants to [work with] all the hotels that want to participate. They're working on whether there's someone that wants to donate transportation, so they don't have to go get the soap from areas like Boston. It's really taken off since he first came and announced to the Buckhead Hotel Council that this was something he wanted to do.

T: It's such a smart idea. It has generated so much interest right away.

OB: Yeah — I mean, when you think about it, especially in a hotel like ours where our guests don't stay that long, if you look at the bars of soap that come out of those rooms, they're pretty big. And those were going into the trash. We're always looking at ways for our guests to recycle, and this was a perfect opportunity.

Perfect indeed. Though the soap hasn't yet reached Uganda, Global Soap contributors remains confident that they will and they continue to collect from over 50 US hotels. Now, even travelers (like you!) can get involved. Visit GlobalSoap.org to find out how send the Project your soap or introduce a hotel manager to the concept. You can also support Global Soap by following them on Facebook and Twitter, sending your friends to the website to spread the word, and, of course, donating.

The Global Soap Project from Global Soap Project on Vimeo.

Image courtesy of mzeynepd via sxc.hu.