The billionaire YouTuber MrBeast claims that he spent $10 million building a village in Ghana.
The project replaces a school without doors or windows that was attended by more than 300 children. It also includes drainage, solar panels, and a community farm.
Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, posted a video this weekend showing how a village was built in Ghana . According to him, the investment was 10 million dollars.
The village is called Abna Dakwa and the construction work lasted eight months. Donaldson explained that the goal is to keep children and families out of illegal labor. He also wrote that his 14-year career on YouTube had been the path to this project.
Houses, school, and drainage for an already existing village
A school without doors or windows is replaced by a new one. Before the construction, more than 300 children attended a school without windows or doors and with a dirt floor. When it rained, the building flooded and the students stopped going. Many have to walk several kilometers to get there, in surroundings that the video shows as dirty and with sweltering heat.
To curb flooding, the team built drains that also prevent water from blocking access to the village. The residents requested a community center, a farm, and a water well. All three were built, along with a market, sanitation facilities, and homes. Solar panels were also installed to generate electricity.
The school will provide free meals to students for five years, with the intention that the children and their families remain in the education system. The children themselves designed their playground.
The project adds a soccer field . As stated in the video, the idea is that the next Messi or the next Ronaldo could come from there.
Homes with solar panels and running water
The other focus of the project is the villagers' homes. According to the video, the houses were built with running water, a service they had not had until now . Consumption was one of the most problematic issues in the village, where its inhabitants were becoming ill on a large scale due to the lack of drinking water.
Solar panels were also installed to generate electricity for the village. That supply is added to the drainage system and the well, which complete the settlement’s basic infrastructure works.
Before premiering the video, Donaldson warned on X that the content would not have a broad reach. "It probably won't do very well, but it's something I care deeply about and I hope my passion shows", he wrote. One follower even pointed out in a comment that his humanitarian videos usually get fewer views than the rest.
'The YouTuber responded: "It’s funny when they say I only help people for the views, because it’s exactly the opposite. It doesn’t matter, helping people gives me purpose and, even if no one sees it, I’ll keep doing it."'
Another user asked him why he wasn't doing more for Greenville , in North Carolina, where he grew up and where his company is headquartered. Donaldson replied: "If I listed everything we do locally, it wouldn't fit in this tweet".
The project is part of the goals of Beast Philanthropy, Donaldson's nonprofit organization . These include eradicating child labor in Ghana, bringing clean drinking water to millions of people, delivering more than 48 million meals, and planting more than 25 million trees.
