Close Ad

Matt Damon Says Seeing Profound Poverty as a Child Impacted His Outlook to This Day
Matt Damon
Mindset

Matt Damon Says Seeing Profound Poverty as a Child Impacted His Outlook to This Day

Matt Damon does a lot of work behind and in front of the camera, but that doesn’t stop him from taking the time to help those less fortunate.

In 2009, Matt Damon teamed up with Gary White to launch Water.org, a charity that delivers safe water and sanitation to everyone. That group has been tremendously successful but there’s still so much work to do. As of now, the group has provided clean water and hygiene to over 16 million people.  


And, according to a recent interview with CNBC, the idea for this came from how he grew up.

"I think a lot of it came from my parents. My mother did take me to Mexico and to Guatemala and I did get to see extreme poverty up close as a teenager and that had a profound effect on me," the award-winning actor told CNBC's Tania Bryer at the World Economic Forum last week in Davos, Switzerland.

Damon said that travel had a big effect on him

as he was growing up, in that he got to see how other people were living,

including those a lot less fortunate.

These are lessons he’s hoping now to pass on to

his own kids.

"My wife and I are trying to do that with

our kids, because it's very hard as a child to understand the world outside of

your own little neighborhood. So, that's a real privilege that we have — to

share that with them."

Damon hopes to use his fame and name recognition as a tool to raise greater awareness about issues that a lot of people in the western world don't pay a lot attention to.

"I

chose this issue because it's massively complex. It's interesting. It's hugely

important. It undergirds all of these issues of extreme poverty and nobody in

the West is really talking about it and so it felt like the right (thing to

do)."

Damon hopes that by attending events like the WEF Forum, he can further his cause of social responsibility.

"It's

different from four years ago. These companies, they really are (caring about

social responsibility) — and that's about the consumers moving them in that

direction. It matters to consumers. It matters to millennials — like the partnership we have with Stella Artois,

they are putting very real money behind this, because it matters to the people,

it matters to their consumers," said Damon.

He

added that this has become a "wonderful thing" as everyone can have

"a voice in this conversation."

Hot Stories

Why Paul Walker Left His Only Daughter With Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel & Paul Walker were more than just friends, they were …

content.jwplatform.com

When the tragic news of Paul Walker's death surfaced, the world was left in shock. As one of the most beloved stars of the Fast and Furious franchise, his passing was felt deeply by fans around the globe. But perhaps the most devastating impact was felt by his daughter, Meadow Walker, who was left without a father.

Keep ReadingShow less
Life Stories
4 Signs You've Found a Kindred Spirit, Not a Soulmate
friends wearing same outfit

Spirituality exists beyond words — to a dimension where language can only hint at deeper truths. Any words used to attempt to describe or explain it will always be poor translations because words often fall short when describing spiritual experiences. It's like trying to capture the ocean's vastness in a photograph. It might show its surface but there's no replacement for the direct experience of reality.

RELATED: The Psychology and Spirituality Causes Of An Identity Crisis

On Defining Spiritual Connections

Throughout history, people have tried to capture extraordinary experiences and spiritual connections through language. Terms like soulmates, twin flames, and kindred spirits attempt to describe these non-ordinary bonds. Yet these labels are merely signposts that point to something mysterious and won't fully capture it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Relationships
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his parents Randi and Pat
Archive

Make no mistake about it: Patrick Mahomes is the face of the NFL. The Tyler, Texas native is the son of Pat Mahomes, a former Major League Baseball player, and Randi Martin.

He burst onto the scene in 2018 when he made history by throwing 50 touchdown passes and 5,000 yards in a single season — a record he shares with Peyton Manning. He followed up his initial success by leading the Kansas City Chiefs to an incredible victory at Super Bowl LIV. If that wasn’t enough, he carried the team through to yet another Super Bowl the very next year, though they ended up losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mahomes has gone to two more Super Bowls since and he's won back-to-back titles (2023 and 2024).

Keep ReadingShow less
Family