Matt Damon names Professor Yunus as his inspiration

American actor Matt Damon, who stars in The Odyssey, has said Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and his microcredit model inspired him to establish his nonprofit organisation, Water.org.

Damon co-founded the global organisation in 2009 with Gary White to expand access to safe water and sanitation, particularly for people living in poverty and underserved communities.

He made the remarks in a video posted on Sunday by American Instagram influencer Ted Zhar, creator of the viral “What Do You Do for a Living?” video series.

In the video, Zhar asks Damon, “Hey, what's up, man? What do you do for a living?”

“Well, let's see. You wanna talk about Water.org?” Damon replies.

Explaining the organisation's work, Damon says it helps people in developing countries gain access to safe water.

When Zhar asks where the water comes from, Damon explains that the organisation uses microloans to help people access water and sanitation services.

“So what we do is we do it through microloans. Basically, what Muhammad Yunus created right at the Grameen Bank years ago. He won the Nobel Prize for it,” Damon says.

Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 alongside the bank for their efforts to create economic and social development from below through microcredit.