Originally published in 2009, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a book written by William Kamkwamba and Brian Mealer. It is based on a true story of William’s life and shows what is possible when you set your mind to it.
William was born in 1987 in a town about 2 1/2 hours from Lingowe, Malawi’s capital city. He grew up with six siblings and is the second oldest. Like most people in Malawi, his parents are farmers who plant corn and tobacco.
However, in 2001, a terrible famine hit Malawi. It had not rained for days and the crop couldn’t grow which meant people couldn’t eat the maize they had planted. People had to sell their possessions to survive and eat. People were desperate and his family had only to eat one meal a day and work in the fields. Dishonest men from the government were selling food for the people because of the famine, which led to nobody getting food and leaving people hungry.
Unfortunately, William’s parents couldn’t afford the school fees due to the drought. In Malawi, parents must pay fees to the school for their students to attend. He was out of school for many years because his parents couldn’t pay his expenses. During this time, he began to tinker with electronics, went to the library, and checked out books about engineering and windmills. He kept up with his studies and had friends who helped him.
His primary goal of the Windmill was to bring power and water to rural and remote villages in Malawi. In most remote villages in Malawi (and Africa in general), many people don’t have access to electricity and clean drinking water unless they live in the big cities.
At first William’s friends and family thought that he was crazy. However, his windmill changed his and his family’s lives. They could now have electricity in their house instead of kerosene lamps and he could stay up late at night to finish his studies once he was enrolled back in school.
After a long time, the drought was finally over and things returned to normal. William was able to further his education at a college in South Africa and Dartmouth University. He was invited to different TED talks and leadership conferences around the world. He is now working on a program that helps install more windmills and continues to help the people in Malawi and make a difference in their lives. He is also now working on a youth center for the youth in Malawi to help inspire them to achieve their dreams. He lives in Malawi with his wife and his child.
He is also now working on a project called Moving Windmills to solve different problems in Malawi today such as running water, and electricity, to help those people in rural villages live a better life.
Here is a link to his TED Talk that he did in 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crjU5hu2fag
