Matt Damon and our School of Public Health

Water is the global language

Matt Damon is connected to our school of public health. Well, sort of. Matt Damon and our alumnus Gary White, head of an NGO called Water Partners, were interviewed by McKinsey & Co.

Damon and White spoke persuasively about the fact that the water scarcity problem will not be solved by charity alone. They argue that it’s not a scarcity problem. It is a distribution problem. They’ve used a variety of strategies, including microloans, to make water available and accessible to communities that never before had regular sources of water. As Damon wrote compellingly, as he left one town in Africa, he realized that the conversation he’d had with a teenager never would have happened during the years when young girls and women in the town spent their days trekking water. Then, they had no futures. They didn’t see education and careers in their futures. Having water changed everything.

Gary White and Matt Damon interviewed by McKinsey & Co.

I’m proud of these two men for elevating the discussion about water, bringing deep understanding about what is needed for global change and for doing something to solve the problem.

Happy Monday. Barbara