GIVING BACK: Rapper Lil Jon opens second school in Ghana

Hip-hop star teams up with Pencils of Promise to make a difference for Ghanan children

Hip-hop star teams up with Pencils of Promise to make a difference for Ghanan children

Lil Jon theGrio.com
(Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images)

Rapper Lil Jon is helping kids in Ghana to get better educational opportunities.

The rapper teamed up with the charity, Pencils of Promise, to break ground at a new school in Ghana last month.

The school, Mafi Atitekpo DA Primary School, is the second of two schools in Ghana’s Mafi Atitekpo village, and it will serve 313 children. The first school, Abomayaw D.A. Kindergarten, opened last October.

“I’m all about helping children,” Lil Jon, who donated $70,000 toward the schools, said. “Children are our future and every child deserves to have an environment where they can learn and flourish and gain knowledge.”

‘Children shouldn’t have to suffer for any reason’

Lil Jon told CNN that he was inspired to help the kids in Ghana during a visit to the country last fall.

“When I saw the conditions where these children were trying to learn, one community they had a big mango tree and two classes were sitting under the mango tree and that’s not a condition conducive with learning,” he told the network. “Kids are going to get distracted, plus it’s extremely hot. It compelled me to want to do more.”

He also said that he felt compelled to help when he thought of his own son, a college student at New York University.

“Children shouldn’t have to suffer for any reason,” he said. “One of these kids could grow up to be a scientist, a lawyer, an astronaut, the president of their country. I could create an environment where all these things could happen.”

Pencils of Promise works around the world to provide educational opportunities and tools. It was founded by Adam Braun, the brother of music manager Scooter Braun, who is best known for launching the careers of stars like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber.

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