[ASU] Nomination of DERRECK KAYONGO as the 2012 ASU African Hero

[Manu Nguéyanouba]

Dear all,

A few  months ago I was thinking of an individual that ASU could proudly
celebrate this year as its African Hero; someone whose accomplishments we
could not only acknowledge, but someone who could inspire Ohio University
Students and the Athens community to support and further the good causes
s/he believes in and has invested in.

I thought about many different inspirational people from all over the world,
including ordinary people who do extraordinary things of which we are often
unaware. I believe that there are many important leaders and heroes who make
remarkable changes in our lives, but often go unnoticed and remain in the
shadows of the spotlight. With this in mind, I narrowed it down to one
candidate: *Derreck Kayongo*. Recently, Mr. Kayongo was nominated by CNN as
one of its Top 10  Heroes of 2011 (
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive11/derreck.kayongo.html). This
reinforced my confidence about nominating  him.

Below you will find more information on Derreck Kayongo:

*Who is DERRECK KAYONGO?*

About 30 years ago, Derreck Kayongo fled Uganda with his parents because of
the mass torture and killings by former Ugandan military dictator Idi Amin.
He then went to Kenya, and lived in refugee camps struggling to survive --
sometimes without basic necessities. Kayongo transitioned from the tough
life of a refugee, eventually becoming a college graduate, U.S. citizen, and
a field coordinator for CARE International, a private humanitarian aid
organization. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, but has not forgotten
his roots. He also has not forgotten the fact that many refugees in Africa
continue to lack access to basic sanitation. "We lost everything," Kayongo
said. "We didn't live in the camps, but we sacrificed a lot. The people
worse off lived in the camps. Soap was so hard to come by, even completely
nonexistent sometimes. People were getting so sick simply because they
couldn't wash their hands."

So, with his wife's help and the support of friends and hotels in Atlanta,
Kayongo started his Global Soap Project in 2009. Over 300 hotels across the
U.S. have joined the project as well, generating 100 tons of soap. As of
now, over 100,000 bars of soap have been provided for several communities in
nine countries.

*More info on Kayongo's Global Soap Project:*

Kayongo's Project has three main goals:

1. Distributing soap to  vulnerable people in Africa, and around the world

2. Resolving the waste of usable soap in the U.S.

3. Adopting an environmentally friendly behaviour in the use of soap in the
U.S.

The Global Soap Project began in May 2009 when Derreck Kayongo introduced a
concept that would improve global health and at the same time reduce
systemic waste in the hospitality industry. His idea was simple: take some
of the 3 million bars of soap thrown away every day by hotels, and reprocess
it into new soap that can be shared with vulnerable populations around the
world. To do this, GSP works with organizations that have existing
operations in these communities to ensure the soap is distributed to those
in need, with the goal of improving health through personal hygiene.

With 4.6-million hotel rooms in the United States, an estimated 2.6-million
soap bars are discarded every day. By participating in this program,
hoteliers are diverting tons of waste from the landfill and bolstering
environmental sustainability programs. Hotel managers, housekeepers, and
guests become more environmentally conscious and more sensitive to the needs
of vulnerable populations.Kenya Relief is one of the organizations which has
benefited. Last summer, Kayongo personally delivered 5,000 bars of soap to
Kenya Relief's Brittney's Home of Grace orphanage.

*Why support this nomination?*

1. In this particular period of economic hardship, I believe that Kayongo's
example would inspire us to adopt his ideas: make rational decisions and
make better use of our own or community resources.

2. His environmentally friendly project will educate us and other people
around us when making our individual decisions that affect our ecosystem.

3. Last, as he says: "It's not good enough for us to complain about what
other people aren't doing for us. It's important that we all band together,
think of an idea and pursue it."

I invite all of you to take a minute to think of this project as you use
soap in your daily lives. Think of the environment and especially of the
millions of people who lack soap, and as a result are suffering from deadly
diseases like cholera. While these are already valuable reasons to nominate
Derrek Kayongo as our hero, ASU will demonstrate efficiency by delivering a
good result for a lesser cost  (in time as well as financially speaking).

Please think about this nomination and let me know if you have any further
questions.

NB: on a different note, you can vote for Mr. Kayongo in the CNN 2011 Heroes
by clicking on the following link:  http://heroes.cnn.com/vote_en.aspx.

*If you believe you receive this email by mistake, please disregard it and
accept my apology for the inconvenience.*

 NGUEYANOUBA EMMANUEL
36 N Mckinley Avenue
Athens 45701
+1740 409 1970
USA
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