Inspired by Dr Yunus, Hollywood Actor Matt Damon Launches Clean Water Initiative
Popular Hollywood actor Mr. Matt Damon has worked for a long time in humanitarian causes, not just in acting. His effort to bring safe water to poor people around the world has come into talk once again. He said he drew inspiration for this effort from the work of Bangladesh’s Nobel winning economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
Mr. Damon and social entrepreneur Mr. Gary White set up the non profit group Water.org together. The main aim of the group is to bring safe water and clean sanitation to poor communities around the world. In Mr. Damon’s words, Dr. Yunus’s microcredit work has had a strong effect on their thinking.
He said the model Dr. Yunus built showed a way to use the idea of microcredit to tackle the water crisis people face. This idea gave birth to the WaterCredit programme. Through it, low income families get loans on easy terms to improve their water and sanitation. As a result, they spend less effort fetching water from far away, and they save time and money.
Through Mr. Damon’s effort, Dr. Yunus’s microcredit idea has found a chance to work in a new field. Beyond charity, their group keeps working to tackle the world water crisis through a system based on finance.
