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The ADVANCE, October 4, 2023/Page 17A
Kayongo Inspires Business Summit Attendees
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
CREATING A LEGACY - Derreck Kayongo encouraged
the audience to create their own legacies through con
structive work in areas of society where they would like
to see change.
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY - University of Georgia
Small Business Center Consultant Nadia Osman stressed
the importance of blending social media presence with
presence in the community during her session at the
Greater Vidalia Summit.
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
ATTENTION TO DETAIL - University of Georgia Small Business Center Consultant Alyssa
Foskey used the traditional Telephone Game to emphasize to the audience the need
to pay attention to small details,
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
Entrepreneur and Hu
man Rights Enthusiast
Derreck Kayongo stole the
show at the annual Greater
Vidalia Chamber Summit
was held on Thursday Sep
tember 28, as he inspired
audiences with his life
changing story about cre
ating a nonprofit organiza
tion from scratch.
Kayongo was born in
Uganda, but fled the na
tion after a civil war broke
out. He recalled the event,
sharing that one day while
he was still a child, a soldier
entered his family’s apart
ment and forced them to
gather with other residents
of his Ugandan village at a
central meeting place. “In
Swahili, [the soldier] said
‘Get out of your apartment
right now,’” Kayongo told
the audience. “He was so
forceful and so rude that
we knew if we didn’t get
out of the apartment, he
actually may kill us.”
The soldiers grouped
the villagers up, and the
men’s leader told the villag
ers that he was on a mission
to find out what individual
had killed 2 of his soldiers
the night before. “He said,
‘Last night, 2 of my soldiers
were killed, and I need
to find out who did it. So,
what we’re going to do is
we are going to have a firing
squad until I find out who
killed them,”’ Kayongo
shared.
“In any civilization,
what happens when a
crime of this magnitude
is completed? You investi
gate the crime; you police
that crime. Well, he did
not,” Kayongo recalled.
“He picked out 4 people at
random and brought them
to the front. He asked the
question one more time
and then, he pulls out his
pistol and shoots all 4 of
them at once - pow, pow,
pow, pow. The chaos that
ensued as mothers were
screaming and everyone
was falling all over each
other was horrid because
all of the sudden, we knew
he was serious.”
Kayongo said this
practice continued another
round, as 4 more random
villagers became casualties
of war. “He yelled, ‘Every
body simmer down! We
are going to do this all day
until we figure this out,”’
he remarked. “He picked
out another 4, and as he
picked out those 4, neigh
bors started turning to each
other, saying, ‘He picked
you.’ Can you imagine
right now your neighbor,
who you’ve known, picking
you out and offering you to
be executed? It is amazing
what people will do when
they’re caught between
a rock and a hard place.
We’re all nice until that big
moment happens.”
He continued, “Before
they could pick another 4,
a young man in the very
back rose his hand ever so
gently and said, ‘I did it.’ As
I turned back to see who
this young man was, he
was a visitor to the village
- there is no way he could
have committed that crime.
They brought that young
man to the front and they
shot him after this banter
between the two of them. I
can still feel this young man
drop to the ground and
shake to his very death. At
that very point, I remem
ber thinking to myself, ‘My
goodness. What is it about
adults that make them not
understand the very value
of life?”’
According to Kayongo,
the soldiers, having felt
they accomplished their
mission, then left and the
leader told the villagers,
“Thank you so much for
your cooperation, I hope
this doesn’t happen again -
because if it does, I will be
back.”
This turmoil was just
the beginning of the civil
war in Uganda, which
stripped Kayongo and his
family of the life that they
had worked so hard to
build in the country.
Kayongo informed
the audience that both his
parents had begun from
scratch to create success
ful careers for themselves.
His mother, who began as
a teacher, taught herself to
sew wedding dresses and
went own to run the larg
est David’s Bridal store in
Uganda. His father found
success in several indus
tries, including printing,
banking, and construction
- yet, it was in the soap
making factory, which was
built by Kayongo’s father
himself - in which he found
the most achievement.
“I really grew up
around an incredible
amount of success, and
these two people who were
- wow, just amazing,” Kay
ongo emphasized. “One of
the things that we forget
about human beings is that
having a great father is an
amazing thing - especially
if the father is purpose-driv
en and has an incredible
sense of existence. But, on
the other hand, having an
incredible mother is such
stabilization that there’s no
medication for it. You can
not go anywhere to get the
stability that a mother can
bring to a child.”
He said that watching
his parents work towards
success had made him pon
der the concept. “Success is
important in community.
You hear about money
all the time,” Kayongo re
marked. “Success is about
creating a name. But what
happens if we take all that
away and take you back to
zero and dehumanize you?
Would you still have the
same character and gump
tion that you displayed
when everything was glori
ous? To see my mom and
dad become refugees was
unbelievable.”
Kayongo told the audi
ence that he and his fam
ily, along with other Ugan
dan natives, were given 90
days to leave the country.
“They had been there for
100 years,” he stressed. “It’s
crazy to think about.”
Kayongo’s family fled
to Kenya, where they met
a woman who could bring
him to America. “They
put me in the hands of an
American woman from
Pittsburgh to raise me,
then [my father] goes back
[to Uganda] to fight in the
war because he said part of
character is to not just say
how horrible things are,
but to do something about
it - that’s what leadership
is all about. When disaster
happens, you don’t run.
You stay and do something
about it,” he explained.
That Americanwas
Marge Campbell, a mis
sionary who was raising
young kids from refugee
situations in Kenya. “She
was such an investor in me,”
Kayongo said. “She left the
whole place of Pittsburgh
to come to a refugee place
and take care of us.”
After having been
raised by Campbell in Ke
nya, Kayongo came to the
United States - specifically
Philadelphia - for college.
Upon arrival, he stayed in
a hotel, which first sparked
his idea for the Global Soap
Project.
“It was the first time
I had stayed at an elegant
hotel,” he recalled. “I walk
into the bathroom and
there are three bars of soap
- hand soap, facial soap,
and bath soap. What is the
difference in them? Noth
ing - Americans are just
boujee. Everywhere else
around the world, we just
use regular soap.”
Having never experi
enced that sort of situation,
and knowing the value of
soap because of his father’s
time as a soap maker, Kay
ongo began taking the soap
and keeping it. After 3 days,
he felt that he could not
pay for the soap, so he went
to the hotel concierge to
speak with him about the
situation. “I walk up to him
and say, ‘I have been steal
ing soap.’ He said, ‘What?’
and I explained that I had
been stealing soap and
couldn’t afford it - can
you just take it back to
housekeeping so they don’t
charge me for it?” he told
the audience. “[The con
cierge] busted out laugh
ing, and began teasing me.
We laughed, and he told
me, ‘Derreck, don’t worry
about it. It’s part of the bill,
so we have already factored
.. • ttf
it in.
Kayongo then asked
the man what happened
to soap that wasn’t com
pletely used. “He said, ‘We
throw those out. It’s par
tially used - no one is go
ing to use that,”’ Kayongo
shared. “Once you open
the wrapper, that’s it.”
He returned to his
room, and it was there the
idea struck to find a way to
utilize the leftover soap by
recycling it and making it
available to less fortunate
countries. “2.6 million bars
of soap are thrown away ev
ery single day,” he empha
sized. “If you are Derreck,
coming into the U.S. from
Uganda, you can look at
that [statistic] and say two
things - you can either say
how wasteful Americans
are or you will remember
the conversation you had
with your dad before you
came to the U.S.”
Kayongo continued,
“He said America is an
interesting country. It is
only around 260 years
old. Look what they have
done in only 260 years. It
is amazing what has been
done here. You had huge
conversations about how
to do things when you cre
ated this country. You had
the feminist movement,
the financial movements -
so many movements. But,
in that conversation, you
decided that this country
was going to be great, big,
and important. You are
now the strongest country
in the world. Why? Be
cause people like myself
come here and don’t com
plain about the country,
but construct [solutions.]
If you are here with intent
on staying here, you have
to confront the very diffi
cult conversations we need
to have - it is up to you.
My father told me, ‘If you
are going to be in the U.S.,
you have to bring some
thing of importance to the
country.’”
He began work on his
idea, as he overcame sev
eral challenges through in
novative thinking. When
challenged to find a way
to remove the bacteria off
of the recycled soap with
out changing the chemi
cal compound of the soap,
Kayongo decided to vac-
cum seal the soap. “Boiling
the soap would change the
soap’s chemical makeup.
Yet, bacteria are living
things. When you put them
in a vacuum, they cannot
survive,” he explained.
Kayongo also worked
to build 4 factories - one
each in Hong Kong, Italy,
Las Vegas, and Orlando.
He got the soap trans
ported for free by utilizing
trucks that would normally
leave the cities empty and
offering them a tax incen
tive.
The operation current
ly works through volun
teers who give their time to
repurpose and create soap
to provide to 32 countries
and to several students in
Africa, as well. “It trans
formed many young girls’
lives,” Kayongo remarked.
“Whereas before, they
would drop out of school
because of being picked on
for hygiene issues, they are
now able to stay and get the
education they deserve.’
Each box of soap given
to a family provides the
family with enough soap
for a year, as Kayongo said
it is important not to just
give once but to be consis
tent.
“Here’s where leader
ship becomes a separating
thing: some of us think we
are leaders because we have
been given that position or
been somewhere a long
time, but we are not inno
vators and entrepreneurs
on the job,” he emphasized.
“We have so much invested
in us that we should really
be vigilant about life. We
have 1 chance in life - this
. •. ff
is it.
Kayongo encouraged
the audience to break out
side of the box to be the
most effective person they
could be in whatever they
chose to do. “Leaders are
observers. They notice
things, and they choose
to find solutions for them.
They use what they ob
serve innovatively and find
new ways to accomplish
ideas,” he stressed.
He added, “What is
your legacy? Here is my
advice: don’t seek perfec
tion. Seek balance. Seek
consistence. Seek justice.
Seek passion. Seek a cause
for humanity, and your life
shall have meaning.”
Other Speakers
Though Kayongo was
the keynote speaker at the
event, University of Geor
gia Small Business Center
Consultants Alyssa Fos
key and Nadia Osman ad
dressed the crowd about
other aspects of business,
such as customer service
and social media presence.
Foskey advised the
attendees to ponder how
their business could im
prove customer service to
both new and loyal cus
tomers. She emphasized
the need for business lead
ers to determine what con
stituted good customer
service and great custom
er service, and how they
could possibly exceed con
sumer expectations within
their business. Foskey used
the infamous telephone
game, in which a statement
is passed down a line of
people to see if the end
ing statement matches that
which was first shared, to
illustrate the importance of
paying attention to detail
and being engaged with
your consumer, as she ex
plained that poor customer
service could cost a busi
ness their brand reputa
tion, customer loyalty, and
even their bottom dollar.
Osman, who filled in
for previously-scheduled
Melissa Furman unable
to attend due to illness,
discussed the differing
platform audiences and
successful forms of me
dia found on each social
media platform, includ
ing Facebook, X (Twit
ter), Instagram, Linkedln,
Snap chat, Tiktok, and Pin-
terest. She explained that
social media often served
as a “giant science experi
ment,” meaning the media
platforms change daily,
so the content must also
follow that same flow of
change. She emphasized
the importance of partner
ing social media marketing
with other things, such as
outside advertising and
community engagement,
and advised the audience
to proofread posts, shorten
links, tag other accounts,
and encourage comments.
“This has been a life
changing event for a lot of
people the past two years,”
Greater Vidalia Chamber
Past Chairman John Koon
commented. “I am so ex
cited to see the effects that
this year’s speakers bring.”