Vic Mensa has a career that has taken him across genres, forms and continents, as a rapper, producer, visual artist and now water activist.
Born to a Ghanaian economics professor father, Mensa was raised on the Southside of Chicago but has strong ties to West Africa where his father was raised. Unfortunately, a recent study in Ghana indicated that about 60% of water bodies in the area are polluted.
Many activities including domestic use of water in river bodies, household and industrial waste, and agricultural pollution among others lead to the pollution of water bodies. In response to this, several studies have been conducted to examine and evaluate the quality of drinking water in Ghana.
These studies revealed that most of the drinking water sources were microbiologically contaminated and may cause water-related diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea and dysentery when consumed.After witnessing firsthand the water contamination in his ancestral village Mensa linked up with his father to develop a solution and build a new Borehole in the region. Boreholes are a simple manual pump which provide fresh and clean water but unfortunately are significantly lacking across the continent of Africa. The construction of the first Borehole was completed in Koforidua, an eastern region in Southern Ghana with a population of 200,000 people.
With the success of Koforidua in 2022 Mensa decided to expand the vision and continue building more Boreholes in the city of Effiduase and Amedzope, a village in the mountainous Volta region.Mensa says, “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. Most people in communities like this in Ghana experience constant water borne diseases.”Because each Borehole can cost up to $15,000 to build, the money needed will be generated in conjunction with the Black Star Line Festival which will take place on January 6, 2023 in Accra Ghana and feature artists including Vic Mensa, Chance the Rapper, Erykah Badu, T-Pain, Jeremih, Sarkodie, Tobe Nwigwe, Asakaa Boys and M.anifest.
