Social media influencer and philanthropist James Annor Tetteh, widely known as Nana Tea, has shared how a young boy he saw in a village he visited inspired the start of his philanthropic journey.

According to him, during a visit to his girlfriend’s (now his wife’s) village in 2020, he saw the boy carrying firewood, so he took a video and posted it on social media. The post caught the attention of several people who offered their support.

He shared this in an interview on Joy Prime’s Changes show with Roselyn Felli on Friday, June 13, 2025.

“The very first story started when I visited my then-girlfriend, now my wife. She stayed in the Central Region, and then I visited her. What happened was I used photography to tell stories, and I was getting attention from people, from my followers and all that. So that very day, I took a picture of this young boy carrying a big log of firewood and posted it. I saw myself in him because I was staying in Assesewa, which is a village, and that’s where I schooled. I walked barefoot in school for years, so when his shirt was tattered, that was my same story. When I saw it, I just took a picture and posted it, captioning it as a reflection of what I saw in him that was just like my story. So I just posted it without asking anybody for money or anything of that sort,” he recounted.

A few days later, he began receiving messages from people offering support for the boy, both in cash and kind, which he gladly accepted.

Following this, Nana Tea decided to seek out individuals facing compelling challenges who needed help to share their stories on his social media platforms.

His consistent efforts attracted significant attention in Ghana and beyond, resulting in financial support whenever he posted about someone’s situation.

According to the influencer, he never initially requested financial assistance from anyone, as he was doing it for fun. However, he began to take it seriously after realising the positive impact on people’s lives.

 “Even though I was having numbers on social media, I didn’t know how you could use social media to change a cause. I was just posting anything just for the fun of it.”

Since then, Nana Tea has helped many less privileged individuals gain access to health treatment, jobs, free blood transfusions, and more through his posts, making him value the impact of social media.

His efforts earned him the Digital Hero award at the 2025 MTN Heroes of Change ceremony, an honour he shared with Buzstop Boys.

He expresses gratitude to God for using him as a vessel to improve people’s lives and bring smiles to their faces.