Causecast

by MELISSA JUN ROWLEY, Contributing Writer

He won an Oscar for co-authoring Good Will Hunting in 1998. He became a household name when he turned the Jason Bourne action saga into a Hollywood franchise. He showed his humanitarian activism and leadership when he helped found the clean water initiative, H20 Africa.

Now, Matt Damon is taking his safe water campaign to the next level. On July 15, the actor announced the merger of H20 Africa with global group WaterPartners to form the collaboration, Water.org. With all the numerous water drilling operations and sanitation drives forming all over the world, it was only a matter of time before two major organizations, sharing the same goal, would join forces. Where the need is great, the solution must be greater. This calls for teamwork.

According the World Health Organization, there are more than 3,500,000 human fatalities every year as result of unsafe water.
“Every 15 seconds a child in the developing world dies from water-related disease,” Damon tells the Huffington Post.

Water.org’s program highlights the importance of working with local partners and promoting community ownership of any completed water project. A central aspect of the Water.org philosophy is that locally-based partners are the only groups and individuals who truly understand the social and economic hardships of developing countries, and are therefore most suited to help achieve and maintain solutions. Since community leadership lies at the heart of Water.org’s mission, communities were asked to elect a local committee that includes women, who are disproportionately held responsible for collecting water. Committee members are trained to manage the finances of each venture, and how to control the water and sanitation systems.

In addition to sustainable technology, Water.org has adopted the concept of microfinance to assist those who do not have access to mainstream credit resources. While grants sometimes take years to be issued, small loans to water project managers, or WaterCredit, enable individuals to take action immediately. According to Water.org, after a decade of loan cycles, WaterCredit could potentially provide access to clean water to five times as many people than grant funding.

Over the years, WaterCredit has empowered people and businesses around the world, and the founders of Water.org are steadily pushing the movement. Earlier in July, Damon and co-founder Gary White went to India to meet with a women’s self-help group called Sri Kirshna, which secured a $7,500 loan to start a business that provides materials for building latrines.

Photo by Siebbi, Flickr.