Vic Mensa poses with Ghanaian children. Image: Courtesy of Mensa.
The rapper will build three wells in total.
Chicago-born rapper Vic Mensa is taking his philanthropic efforts to new heights—and depths—on the Mother Continent. Born to a Ghanaian father, the Black Star Line Fest co-creator came together with his dad to build new boreholes (a simple manual pump which provide fresh and clean water) across villages in Ghana that are currently lacking. The clean water will reach more than 200,000 residents, with two more boreholes being built in the future.
Sadly, studies show that about 60% of Ghana’s water sources are polluted. Several factors have contributed to this, including: domestic use of water in river bodies, household and industrial waste, and agricultural pollution. The contaminated water can contribute to diseases like typhoid, diarrhea and dysentery when consumed. A single borehole can run upwards of $15,000, so the entertainer plans to use proceeds from the January 6, 2023 Black Star Line event to fund additional pumps.
Mensa’s first borehole is located in Koforidua, an eastern region in Southern Ghana with a population of 200,000 people. Mensa and his father will now provide access to clean water to the city of Effiduase and Amedzope, a village in the mountainous Volta region.
“We’re building 3 Boreholes in different communities in Ghana to provide clean drinking water; the first being the Asokore Zongo in Koforidua where my family lives, which is already built,” Vic Mensa shares. “The other locations are a nearby community called Efiduase and then our ancestral village in the Volta Region, Amedzope. Most people in communities like this in Ghana experience constant water-borne diseases.”
Mensa teamed up with fellow Chicago rapper, and friend, Chance the Rapper for the music fest. There was a series of talks and activations during the week leading up to the free one-day event, which will feature performances by Erykah Badu, T-Pain and the fest’s co-creators.