Helping People and Environments
Thrive in Remote Regions

Snakebites are common among villagers in Mkokoni, Kenya. Cobras, adders and vipers reside in nearby coastal forests and present a huge challenge to communities where local fishermen dive for lobster, crab and octopus. “One young man came to the dispensary with a poisonous snake bite. I was able to treat him quickly, and he survived,” says Khadija Mohamed Famau, a community health worker. “If the dispensary had not been here, he would have died.”

Khadija lives in a remote part of Kenya where natural resources are rich but the health of the community is in jeopardy. It also is an area where Johnson & Johnson and its partners are working to protect human life in the villages and the abundance of life on land and in the sea.

In 2008, Johnson & Johnson formed a three-year partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to address health, population and environmental needs in remote communities. The effort is part of USAID’s Global Development Alliance, an initiative that brings together resources, funding and creative ideas from corporations and other organizations to provide aid to underdeveloped regions in developed countries.

“We’ve partnered with the WWF since 2005 on several environmental programs. The 2008 partnership extends that commitment. It’s the Company’s first Global Development Alliance with USAID, and it addresses health care, environmental and population issues. It’s a perfect fit,” says Conrad Person, Director, Corporate Contributions, Johnson & Johnson.

The partnership focuses on Kenya, Nepal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

ACCESS AND EDUCATION IN KENYA

In Kenya, partnership activities address health and environmental issues. For example, the dispensary where Khadija works was opened in 2006. Before the dispensary was available, families had to travel 6 to 8 hours to get to a health care facility. Most children were not immunized. Mortality rates for women and babies were high. “There were many deaths in our villages,” says Khadija.

In addition, prior to the partnership, education about how to purify water, prevent disease and practice good hygiene was non-existent. The water wells were open, which exposed available water to contamination from the environment. Through the partnership, wells were covered and pumps were installed to keep the water clean.

The program in Kenya also teaches fishermen how to take care of themselves and the precious waters that provide food and income for nearly 80 percent of villagers. For fishermen such as Mohamed Famau, Khadija’s father, the program built reservoirs to provide access to clean water for men working at sea. It also brought fishermen together to teach them how to sustain the life that’s in the water so that the sea will continue to provide food for many generations.

“We have 1,300 fishermen in our program,” says Ali Mwachui, who leads the USAID/Johnson & Johnson partnership for the WWF from camp headquarters in Kiunga, Kenya. “They’ve learned basic hygiene and lessons about nutrition, such as how eating too much or too little fish can cause diet deficiencies. They’ve learned fish-handling techniques and how to keep their landing sites clean when buyers come for the fish. This is healthier for everyone.”

PROTECTING FORESTS IN NEPAL AND PRIMATES IN THE CONGO

In Nepal, partnership activities focus on protecting forests and improving air quality. Traditionally, villagers have relied on wood-burning stoves and the forest’s trees to fuel them. Today, villagers are learning about the harmful emissions from wood-burning stoves and how to use biogas units instead, which are fueled by cattle manure. “Less woodcutting results in healthier forests, which in turn gives villagers a fruitful place to hunt and gather forest products for nutrition,” says Ali.

In the Congo, programs help villagers understand how hunting for primates, or “bush meat,” can spread disease and damage the environment. Access to health care is another big issue because the area is so remote. “We’re making progress in the Congo. Our challenge is to find ways to get the people in these communities together and integrate conservation programs with access to health care,” says Ali.

In all three areas—Kenya, Nepal and the Congo—family planning is a major focus. “When a population grows, the community must turn to the surrounding environment for its livelihood,” says Ali. “This places a strain on the land, which can deplete natural resources, endanger plant and animal life and increase pollution.”

He adds, “The bottom line is this: A healthy environment is necessary for people to be healthy.”