Malawi is a landlocked, poor, famine-stricken nation in southern Africa. Young William Kamkwamba and his family struggled for survival every day in a harsh environment.
What little education was available in Kamkwamba’s village was soon beyond the reach of his family (costing $80 a year), and William was forced to drop out of high school shortly into his freshman year. But that didn’t stop young William from using his ingenuity and curiosity to harness “electric wind” as a means of improving the life in his beleaguered village.
Using material available to him, broken down bicycles, clothesline, and other bits of discarded items, Kamkwamba brought hope through wind power – electric wind – to his family and community where before there was only hunger and desperation.
Kamkwamba has chronicled his story in a book coauthored with Bryan Mealer called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope (P.S.)
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African Leadership Academy
- William Kamkwamba on building a windmill | Video on TED.com (ted.com)
- TEDucation: 5 TED Talks Librarians Should Watch (and Why … (agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com)
