How Mr Beast Is Changing Lives in Africa

Learn about Mr. Beast's project in Africa, where he has changed lives through his Wells, Schools, and Bridges.

It's no surprise that one of the most recognizable things about Mr. Beast is his high-stakes challenges and giveaways that land him hundreds of millions of views. But, not all of his most impactful endeavors have involved a stunt that awarded a prize of a few grams of cash, they have been years of initiatives to provide clean water, schools, and infrastructure to communities in Africa. What he did, which countries saw it, and why it has been harder to respond to than a typical viral video.

The “I Built 100 Wells in Africa” Video

Credit: Mr. Beast

The team led by Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson) unveiled a video in November 2023 where they stated their organization has constructed 100 wells in five African nations: Kenya, Cameroon, Somalia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The wells were engineered to supply the community with clean drinking water to serve up to 500,000 people who previously had to fetch water from unsafe and distant sources. The video wasn't limited to wells. Donaldson's team also:

•  Provided school equipment in Kenya such as furniture, whiteboards, computers, projectors and soccer balls.
• Constructed a bridge over a river in Zimbabwe for the children to cross to the school and local hospital without the risk of being injured on the way.
• Provided bicycles to a village in Zimbabwe for children to get to school.
• Promoted solar powered water pumps to assist farmers in irrigation and farming tasks.
• Organized a fundraiser with the video which raised several hundred thousand dollars for water aid organizations, in addition to Mr. Beast's spending money

Within days, the video had reached 70 million views and Mr. Beast claims all the profits from the video will be put back into his future clean water initiatives.

From "100 Wells" to Team Water

The 2023 wells project wasn't a one-off. It was then the basis for the ongoing project called Team Water, which is Mr. Beast's nonprofit called Beast Philanthropy and is set to deliver clean water to over 2 million people. It sees clean water as the stepping stone to other improvements: improved health, regular school attendance for girls who would otherwise have to gather water for hours and improved local food security.

Helping Restore Sight for the Blind

Credit: Mr. Beast

 Mr. Beast has also made 1,000 cataract removal surgeries available to people who were blind or nearsighted, but couldn't afford the procedure, globally, outside of the Africa concentrated wells project. He has worked with ophthalmologist Jeff Levenson, who's run the "Gift of Sight" program for more than 20 years that has served uninsured people with free cataract surgery. Levenson noted that approximately half of all blindness worldwide is caused by cataracts and the surgery to reverse them only requires about ten minutes, and it costs much less than in more affluent countries. Patients were shown in the video with a clear vision for the first time in years and some even giving them cash gifts.

 Criticism, and why it matters.

 Not everyone was pleased with the video about the wells and a good article about MrBeast's influence would say as much.

 Other Kenyan activists and journalists suggested that Mr. Beast's videos paid tribute to a lack of basic services on the part of local governments for the local population: that a foreign YouTuber should not have to solve a problem that public institutions are supposed to solve for the local population.

 The other issue, however, given as a technical concern by water aid professionals was sustainability. At present, there are already 300,000 abandoned water pumps across Africa, which equates to billions of dollars of lost investment, for the most part due to insufficient long-term maintenance schemes. Mr. Beast has been credited with bringing the water crisis to the forefront of people's minds, but Saran Kaba Jones, the founder of FACE Africa, warned that it won't be until years later that people will know if these wells are still working.

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 Such a criticism doesn't undo the good that 500,000 people had from having reliable water. They're a good reminder, though, that viral philanthropy is best served when accompanied by a long-term structure and accountability, and something Beast Philanthropy has been more recently, and plainly, doing better with Team Water's ongoing structure, rather than as a one-time video.

 But why is this important beyond just the views?

 Influencer philanthropy got two things right after Mr. Beast's Africa-related videos took the center stage.

First, scale: few individual creators have the audience or resources to support infrastructure at a scale that impacts hundreds of thousands of people in a single project. First, scale: few individual creators have the audience or resources to support infrastructure at a scale that impacts hundreds of thousands of people in a single project. Secondly, visibility: tens of millions of people who rarely thought about water scarcity in Sub Saharan Africa were faced with the reality that United Nations tracking data shows that only 31% of the population can access a “safe and improved water source.”

 The response (in Africa, at least) has been, quite appropriately, mixed: thanks for the tangible aid, and a legitimate question regarding the need for outside intervention at all, and whether it will endure.

 The Bigger Picture

 Mr. Beast's philanthropy in Africa is part of a much bigger narrative of giving that ranges from tree-planting (Tree Trees, which planted more than 24 million trees) to prosthetic limbs for amputees to disaster relief. Whether or not you consider him a "hero" or a content creator who is exploiting positive perceptions for views, the actual effect on the specific communities involved is real and measurable: working well, safer route to school, functioning water systems for a hospital.

The more interesting question in the future isn't whether or not Mr. Beast will continue with this type of content. It's about the durability of the infrastructure being created, and whether local government and organizations receive follow-up support to sustain it beyond the cameras.

Disclaimer

This article is an independent, informational piece written for educational purposes. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson), Beast Philanthropy, or any organization mentioned. All facts, figures, and quotes referenced are drawn from publicly available news reports and official statements cited or linked within the article at the time of writing; figures such as views, funds raised, and people affected were accurate as reported by those sources and may have changed since publication. This content does not constitute an official account of any individual's or organization's actions, and readers are encouraged to consult original sources and official channels for the most current information.