Matt Damon is No Gandhi.
His Idea of ‘Freedom for Water’ Is.
It took Gandhi 15 years after returning to India to find the right ingredient for the independence movement — salt.
Gandhi returned to India in 1915, his most prominent movement was the salt march in 1930 — when he broke the salt laws of the then-British Raj at Dandi. Gandhi understood salt tax affected every strata of society. Everyone could relate.
What Gandhi found in salt, Matt Damon discovered in water.
Matt burst on screen with Good Will Hunting. What stood out about him was the screenplay. Those conversations between his character and Robin Williams was a class-act.
That happened 21 years ago. Today, Matt shows up during the Super Bowl with his right ingredient — water.
Looks like he is bringing water.org mainstream this Super Bowl.
I did some digging on Matt Damon’s Water.org.
The parallels with Gandhi’s approach is interesting. When raising arms were the norm to gain independence, Gandhi’s nonviolence was a contrarian approach.
Compared to the norm of digging wells and getting out, Water.org has chosen a different path.
They are replicating a success formula that has worked wonders- thanks to Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Price winning social entrepreneur.
Muhammad Yunus wanted to help women in Bangladesh villages. He went to their homes, he listened intently and deciphered what they really asked for. They did not ask for money, charity or livelihood. They asked for loans. And one of the greatest social movements — micro finance was born.
Those women in Bangladesh villages aspired for freedom with dignity — to charter their own destiny within their own control. Muhammad Yunus understood that.
What I find in Water.org’s story is something similar. They are providing tools — loans is one of them — and not the solutions.
In that subtlety, the seeds of success are sown.
Gandhi marched a nation to freedom. Maybe, just maybe, Water.org will reduce the walk for water.
