Introduction

The William Kamkwamba Story

"My dream is to finish my education and in the future to start my own company about the windmills.  Most of the people they want technology, but they cannot use the Internet technology without electricity.  That's what I'm planning to do to come up with the reliable electricity, that's what I'm planning to do."

In late 2006, a Malawian newspaper first wrote about a remarkable young man from a remote rural village north of the capital city.

This is his story.

My name is William Kamkwamba, and I'm from Malawi. In the economy of Malawi, most of the people depend on farming, we depend on tobacco. I'm 20 years old now. My village has got 60 families, and my family we are about 20. I was dropped out [of school] because my parents had no money to pay my school fees, and school fees are about $80. We have enough wind in Malawi and I was thinking, what can I do to use that wind so that we can have something? 

That's why I decided to read some books about the windmills. The first time I saw a windmill in the book it just come up with the pictures but they didn't say anything about what you can do to build that windmill so that you can generate electricity or you can pump water. If this windmill is in this book, if I can try then maybe I make one so that I can have electricity in my home. The time I decided to build the windmill I was 14 years old and it take me about two months to build the first windmill. They couldn't believe that I would make something to generate electricity. What makes people to start realizing that this thing is useful when they realized that it could power a radio. Most of the people, they didn't know what I'm doing. They all thought that maybe I'm going mad and that maybe I am crazy. I didn't receive much support on the first time, but after I built a little windmill people started to realize, "Oh, maybe this is a useful thing. Maybe we should help him."

I went to the library to return the books and the librarian asked me, "Oh,you have built a windmill using the knowledge from this book?" And I said, "Yes". Then she said, "Oh, Ok. I will come to your home so that I can see." And the guys came with some journalists and write an article about the windmill.

As a result of his efforts, William was invited to visit the United States for the first time in December 2007.  Over the last nine months, William has added a second windmill, solar panels, bright lighting, and a deep water well to his family compound.  For the first time his family can work, study, and read at night, and irrigate crops by day. In September 2008, William will join the inaugural class of the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, the first pan-African preparatory school.

Read Aloud of the Book

  The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind 

The William Kamkwamba Story