From Mark Krajnak, Manager, Corporate Communication, Johnson & Johnson

Around the world, the scarcity of water is increasing. This is especially evident in India, where a few months ago I had the opportunity to visit a Johnson & Johnson Consumer manufacturing facility located in Baddi, in the Himachal Pradesh region of India, nearly at the base of the Himalaya Mountains. While there, I got the chance to meet one of my colleagues, Achal Gupta, who is Manager of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) at the facility.

One of the stories in the Johnson & Johnson 2009 Annual Report focuses on Achal, and what he and his colleagues are doing to help conserve water in the region. Achal and the rest of the team work hard at harvesting rain water and runoff from the mountains. The facility also sees to it that every drop of treated water is reused for actions like irrigation and toilet flushing. Their water conservation efforts also extend beyond this facility, as the team collaborates with other companies in the region to share best practices.

It was one thing to hear about what the facility was doing and to see the goals and successes in a Power Point presentation. What I wasn’t prepared for was just how passionate Achal and others were when I spoke to them. I doubt I’ll ever forget speaking with Achal as he led me to a mountain stream where we were going to shoot some photos, and the reverence in this voice when he talked about their water conservation efforts.  He told me that their goal was to figure out how to harvest all the water that fell during the monsoon season, and then what to do with the water as the snow melted off the Himalayas. Then he said something that really surprised me: “The sound of water is like music. You just have to listen to it.”

As a way to illustrate the water conservation story that we were working on for the annual report story, I asked him if he would mind rolling up his pant legs and getting into the stream for the photo. “Oh sure,” he said. “Not a problem.  I do this every chance I get.”

“What do you mean,” I asked.

“Water revitalizes the body. It’s peaceful. It’s very important in Indian culture and being in it helps us to become closer to this earth. When I’m standing in the water, I feel my stress leave my body. I feel good,” he said.

As he was talking he was already stepping into the lake. There was a shepherd woman and her cows nearby.

“You should join me,” Achal said.

I felt honored by that. So I sat down on a rock, removed my boots and my socks, rolled up my pants legs and stepped in. It was about 97 degrees that day and the water felt cool and crisp.

But more so, Achal was right. I did feel better. I did stop to listen. And it made me realize that water is one natural resource that we really can’t live without.

Click here to view Achal’s story.

As we enter the season fondly referred to by sports fans as “March Madness,” or the NCAA basketball tournament, we’re pleased to have posted a video on the J&J health channel about Mike Krzyzewski, or Coach K. Legendary men’s basketball coach at Duke University, 63-year-old Coach K has coached the Duke Blue Devils for 30 years, and has amassed an amazing 859 wins! He also began suffering from osteoarthritis in his 50s, and his debilitating pain and lack of mobility led him to contemplate an early retirement from the game he loved.

After two successful hip replacements and rehabilitation, Coach K said, “I wish I had made the decision to have hip replacement sooner. I had exhausted all the non-surgical options, but still put off the surgery. This cost me some quality of life and it almost cost me the joys I continue to experience as a coach.”

Duke is seeded number one in the Southern Region of the NCAA tournament this year, and we wish him the best of luck!

Disclosure: Coach K is a paid spokesperson for DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc.

From Imani Davis, Rutgers University Corporate Social Responsibility Fellow

As part of my responsibility as the Corporate Social Responsibility Fellow, I had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. this past October for the 13th annual Alliance Building & Training Session (ABTS)— a professional development and networking opportunity that brought together all Bridge to Employment (BTE) programs. Johnson & Johnson established the BTE program to help young people build solid futures by introducing them to a broad array of careers in health care.

This session allowed partners from around the world to share best practices as well as plan the next steps of their respective programs. The session also allowed interaction between students, mentors, school administrators, and corporate partners.

At this conference, I served two roles: student ambassador chaperone, which allowed me to work with a student group on their case study (they won best overall presentation, by the way!), and “roving” reporter, which allowed me to interview partners within every role of the BTE program; these interviews gave great insight from a variety of perspectives on how BTE impacted not only students’ lives, but also left a great impression on the mentors, administrators, and staff that worked with students.

This impression was also imparted on me. While playing the role of reporter was a fantastic experience, I really enjoyed working with and helping students with their case studies. Their energy and eagerness to learn were super inspiring and kept me enthused through a jam-packed conference schedule. While I was happy to have helped them with their presentation, I was also grateful for the opportunity to meet young people who will surely be our future leaders, and hear first-hand how BTE has shaped their college and career interests.

To hear it in their own words, check out the videos I shot below: