Good deeds by the world’s No. 1 YouTuber ‘Mr. Beast’
“Show for views” backlash
The world’s No. 1 YouTuber, Mr. Beast (25, real name Jimmy Donaldson), with over 200 million subscribers, has become a hot topic by conducting a large-scale public interest content about installing 100 wells for underprivileged people in Africa who are suffering from a serious water shortage problem.
On the 4th, Mr. Beast released a video titled ‘I Built 100 Wells In Africa’ on his channel. In the video, he visited several countries in Africa, including Kenya, Cameroon, Somalia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
In some of the villages he visited, water was not available and people were forced to drink muddy water. A local female teacher explained that because of this, residents are easily infected with various diseases such as diarrheal diseases and typhoid fever.
In another village, people had to walk 1.6km through a large jungle to get water, and in another village, there was a huge river in the middle of the village, and three people recently lost their lives as water levels rose during the rainy season.
Mr. Beast, who heard the various grievances of residents, dug wells for African residents and installed clean water purification facilities to provide them to the residents. Additionally, a strong bridge was built in a village where a fatal accident occurred recently, allowing residents to safely cross the river.
In one village, they found groundwater under the ground, installed a water supply pipe, and then built a water tower so that nearby villages could receive clean water and do laundry.
The number of wells installed by Mr. Beast is 100, and these wells are known to provide enough clean water for 500,000 African residents to drink.
In addition, Mr. Beast realized that an African village lacked transportation, so he gifted new bicycles to all students in the village and installed solar wells for farming in a village without electricity.
He said, “It seems like an enormous amount of government support and funding is needed to achieve this level of effect. But actually, that’s not the case. This is a problem that can be solved. “Efforts are needed from all of humanity to solve this problem,” he said.
Many people praised Mr. Beast for his video, saying, “He is doing more than the UN,” “He has a great influence for good,” and “It even teaches a lesson.” The village where the donation project was taking place warmly welcomed the appearance of Mr. Beast.
However, some criticized that it was just a show to increase the number of views and that it took away the praise that should have been given to existing volunteer organizations.
Saran Khama Jones, CEO of Face Africa, an organization working to improve water infrastructure and sanitation in Africa, told CNN, “I have been doing this work for 15 years and have faced many challenges such as raising funds and raising awareness. “However, one night, a white man suddenly appeared and attracted all the attention,” he complained.
Kenyan politician Francis Gaito said on his social media, “Mr. Beast’s video may perpetuate the stereotype that Africa relies on donations and charity,” and argued that good deeds can lead to prejudice.
Meanwhile, for Mr. Beast’s well installation video, all views and advertising revenue from the video are donated, and it is said that he does not receive a single penny of profit. He left a donation website at the bottom of the video and announced that 100% of the funds raised would be used to install wells in more countries around the world.
Song Chi-hoon,
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.