Vic Mensa is Bringing Clean Water to Over 200,000 Ghanaians

Vic Mensa (and his dad) are bringing clear water to their homeland.

Born Victor Kwesi Mensah, the Chicago-made rapper and creative remembers his roots, capitalizing on his success and resources to bring a better quality of life for his fellow Ghanaians through access to clean water. Mensa visited his ancestral village alongside his father who was born in Ghana and heads a non-profit called Let Them Drink Water, and bore witness to the community’s severe water contamination issue. The pair decided to develop a solution, by building a new Borehole — a manual pump which provide clean water, but are unfortunately rare across Africa. After one successful borehole that brought access to water for hundreds of thousands, Mensa decided to build two more in nearby 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.”

To help fund the boreholes that can cost up to $15,000 each to build, Mensa partnered with the Black Star Line Festival taking place in Accra Ghana on Jan. 6. The festival will feature performances from Mensa, Chance the Rapper, Erykah Badu, T-Pain, Jeremih, Sarkodie, Tobe Nwigwe, Asakaa Boys and M.anifest. “This festival is about connecting Black people of the globe,” he told TMZ in an interview. “Beyond all of those colonial boundaries. It’s something that has been on my mind for a long time.”