2023-11-08 17:53:00
(CNN) — Latest video from the American YouTuber MrBeastin which he claims to have built 100 wells across Africa, has sparked complex reactions on the Internet since its publication on Saturday.
Some Kenyan activists and journalists say he has exposed the failings of the Kenyan government, while MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, anticipates he will be “cancelled” following the backlash.
The new wells will provide clean drinking water to 500,000 people in Cameroon, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Zimbabwe, Donaldson said, while a parallel fundraiser to support local water relief organizations had raised more than $300,000. On Monday in the morning.
Donaldson’s 10-minute video also showed him donating supplies to Kenyan schools, including new furniture, soccer balls, computers, whiteboards and projectors; as well as building a bridge over a river to safely connect a town to local schools and hospital; and donating bicycles to a village in Zimbabwe to help children go to school.
Prominent activist Boniface Mwangi compared Donaldson’s actions to those of the Kenyan government, saying “we are a” horrible, shameful country… a beggar nation ruled by millionaires.
Added in X, formerly known as Twitter: “Every five years we give newly elected members of parliament and senators a car subsidy of 5 million shillings ($33,000), fuel for those cars every month, but we don’t have money to drill wells for our people? “
Similarly, freelance journalist Ferdinand Omondi praised Donaldson’s efforts, but said “it’s shameful that a YouTuber flew to Kenya on a charity tour to perform tasks our taxes should have completed years ago.”
CNN contacted a Kenyan government spokesperson for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Saran Kaba Jones, founder and CEO of FACE Africaan organization working to improve water and sanitation infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa, told CNN: “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, but we’ve had a hard time continuing the work because funding, awareness and advocacy take work.”
He added: “Overnight, this person appears, who turns out to be a white male figure with a big platform, and suddenly he gets all the attention. It’s a little frustrating, but it also involves understanding the nature of the world.” .
He praised Donaldson for drawing attention to the need to provide drinking water, but warned that “the issue is sustainability. It’s one thing to go and install the well, and another thing is for us to come back in three, four or five years and Let’s see if that well is still working.”
Kaba Jones told CNN that FACE Africa works in areas where “60% of the wells are broken and people are going back to drinking from the stream because there was no infrastructure for monitoring, maintenance and repair” and said he hoped the Donaldson’s effort to build wells included this infrastructure.
Although much of the reaction to Donaldson’s video seemed to focus on how it embarrassed the Kenyan government, its creator anticipated backlash, saying on 100%”. % sure, I don’t care.”
Aspiring Kenyan politician Francis Gaitho criticized the video Donaldson’s, stating in
Donaldson is the most popular individual creator on YouTube, with more than 200 million subscribers. He has become famous for his philanthropypublishing videos in which he sponsored cataract surgery for 1,000 blind people and bought prostheses for 2,000 amputees.
These videos have helped him build a business empire with a potential value of more than US$1 billion and has earned him enough recognition for Time magazine to name him one of the most influential people of 2023.
Some critics have previously accused Donaldson of exploiting vulnerable people to generate views and income, but he stated on X that “I will always use my channel to help people and try to inspire my audience to do the same.”
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