ABC/Randy Holmes(NEW YORK) — Matt Damon is an Oscar-winning actor but he also makes time to give back.
As the co-founder of Water.org and the father of four, Damon said it’s important to him that he teach his children about how difficult it can be for people around the globe to find clean drinking water.
“It is difficult not to see my four daughters in the eyes of the many young girls I’ve met in my travels through poverty stricken communities around the world. It’s an ongoing education just like it is for me, but I’m bringing them along as best I can,” Damon told ABC News. “They’ve been born into a lot more privilege than I was and a lot of emotional capital as well. They’ve got a great mom and I like to think a pretty good dad too, and I expect them to do a lot. I expect that kids like that should do a lot, and they will have to if there’s any hope for our world.”
Damon, 44, and his organization have teamed up with Stella Artois for a new campaign to raise awareness of the global water crisis. The focus this time is specifically on women around the world who spend a combined 200 million hours collecting clean water for their families every day — a group of people with whom Damon shares a connection.
“My personal connection started when I went on a water collection with a 14-year-old girl in Zambia, and she grabbed her jerrycan and we walked a mile to the well. It was a long walk, and we talked about all the things she could be doing if she did not have to walk so far to get water,” he said. “In Haiti I met a young girl who told me she would play if she did not have to scavenge for water. Her grades were already top in her class. She just wanted to be able to play.”
Damon’s passion for the cause makes the time and effort he devotes to it worthwhile. In fact, he said it doesn’t feel like “work” at all.
“Access to clean drinking water is a luxury many of us take for granted every day. Meeting people around the world, most of whom are women and young children, who are living in a crippling cycle of poverty as a result of contaminated water and poor sanitation deeply affected me,” he explained. “To see a child gain access to clean drinking water and the chance to get an education and pursue a career is an incredible feeling.”
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