Matt Damon met a young girl during a charitable field mission, whose fierce ambition instantly reminded him of his own early hustle alongside his best friend Ben Affleck. Over three decades ago, Damon and Gary White established Water.org to deliver clean water to impoverished communities where Damon happened to come across the fiery teen. This profound emotional connection formed during a lifelong mission to transform global communities through sustainable resources propelled the actor back in time. 

Damon discovered that a teenager fighting poverty in Africa shared the same burning ambition that launched his own legendary cinematic career.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Matt Damon recalled his early field research alongside a teenage girl. While walking a mile to the nearest well with their containers, the young student shared her grand ambitions for the future. Her fierce determination instantly reminded the actor of his early years alongside childhood friend Ben Affleck.

“I really felt a connection to this kid, because she reminded me so much of Ben [Affleck] and I at that age," Damon said.

The young girl spoke passionately about relocating to the capital city, Lusaka, to become a professional nurse. Her determined declarations mirrored the conversations Damon and Affleck shared about leaving Boston to pursue acting careers in New York.

“‘I'm (the girl) going to be a nurse. I'm going to the big city,' and it was the way Ben and I (Damon) would talk about, 'We're going to New York. We're going to be actors. We're getting out of Boston," Damon recalled. 

The teenager possessed the grand aspirations and optimistic outlook that every young person deserves. Matt Damon grew up just blocks apart in Massachusetts before achieving cinematic success together. This shared history he shared with PEOPLE made the encounter uniquely poignant for the actor during his African journey. It highlighted how youthful ambition remains the same across cultures and vastly different circumstances.

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A sudden realization on his way back from Zambia, in fact, exposed the harsh reality of resource scarcity for young women.

While speaking to PEOPLE, Matt Damon reflected on a realization that left him haunted. He recalled that without a local borehole, the young girl would spend her days gathering water instead of attending school. This chore would prevent her from pursuing higher education or contributing to her nation's economy. The experience proved that a lack of resources stifles human potential and restricts future generations.

"It wasn't until I was driving away that I realized, had someone not sunk this borehole near her house, she wouldn't be in school.,” Damon said.

The heartbreak of this revelation motivated the actor to expand his charitable efforts through innovative corporate partnerships. Water.org recently launched the Get Blue initiative, in partnership with global brands, to enable consumers to fund access to safe water through everyday purchases.  Co-founder Gary White emphasized that water access is a solvable crisis that requires collective action rather than miraculous interventions.

"It's about connection and action, and it's important that people connect to what is really one of humanity's greatest challenges, the simple fact that people don't have safe water”, he told PEOPLE. By recognizing his own youthful ambition in a Zambian teenager, Matt Damon not only remembered Ben Affleck and their work but also transformed a simple charitable walk into a lifelong crusade for global water equity.

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