Chicago rapper Vic Mensa is extending his philanthropic endeavors to his native Ghana by providing access to clean water to more than 200,000 locals. The rapper, who was born to a Ghanaian father, took up the decision to fund the drilling of boreholes in the West African nation after he visited his ancestral village, Billboard reported.
Mensa made that trip in the company of his father. And after he had a first-hand view of the water contamination in the area, he and his father decided to step in by funding the drilling of a borehole. Mensa’s father runs a non-profit called “Let Them Drink Water”.
Boreholes provide clean and filtered water from the ground. But they are said to be scarce in Africa. So following the funding of a borehole that eventually provided clean water to over a hundred thousand locals, Mensa – born Victor Kwesi Mensah – took up the decision to provide two more to other villages.
“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. The other locations are a nearby community called Efiduase and then our ancestral village in the Volta Region Amedzope,” Mensa said in a statement. “Most people in communities like this in Ghana experience constant water borne diseases.”
The drilling of a borehole is said to cost around $15,000. So to help raise funds to pay for more boreholes, Mensa and the Black Star Line Festival reached a partnership. The festival, which was founded by the Ghanaian-American and fellow Chicago rapper, Chance the Rapper, is a “week-long series of events including panel discussions, fine art exhibitions and nightlife events culminating in a large scale concert at Black Star Square in Accra.”
The free concert is scheduled to take place on Friday, January 6, and artists including Erykah Badu, T-Pain, Jeremih, Sarkodie, Tobe Nwigwe, Asakaa Boys, and M.anifest have been billed to perform.
“This festival is about connecting Black people of the globe,” Mensa said in an interview with TMZ. “Beyond all of those colonial boundaries. It’s something that has been on my mind for a long time.”
