Source: Brian Stukes / Getty
Chicago emcee Vic Mensa is letting it be known that his passions don’t end in the booth or on the stage, they also steer him toward doing his part to make the world a better place for the most vulnerable among us. Just last year, Mensa donated $10,000 worth of gas to Southside Chicagoans in the neighborhood he came up in, and now, the “U Mad” rapper is taking his humanitarian efforts all the way across the Atlantic to Ghana, where his father is from.
From Complex:
Born Victor Kwesi Mensah, the 29-year-old artist was raised in Chicago, but his father hails from Ghana and oversees the non-profit organization Let Them Drink Water, according to Billboard. Mensa observed how water contamination issues were impacting the community, and decided to try and lend a helping hand by linking up with his dad to build a Borehole, a manual pump which is unfortunately rare across Africa.
The first Borehole was constructed in Koforidua, an eastern region in Southern Ghana with a population of 200,000 people. Its success sparked Mensa’s interest in expanding elsewhere, setting his sights on building Boreholes in the city of Effiduase and village of Amedzope, 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,” he said. “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.”
To build new Boreholes, Mensa will use funds generated from the upcoming Black Star Line Festival, which will include performances by Chance the Rapper, Erykah Badu, T-Pain and Jeremih, according to Complex. The price of additional Boreholes has been estimated at $15,000 each.
Whether in the states or abroad, this is what giving back to your community looks like. Much respect to Vic Mensa. Keep doing the good work, sir!