Faced with these mind-numbing circumstances, William Kamkwamba of Malawi, a poor country in Southern Africa, did what others only talk about – he became the change he hoped to see in the world.
It began when William saw a picture of a wind farm in an old text book. Intrigued by the picture, he attempted to read some of the English words surrounding the picture. That smattering of words gave him a vision of possibility – wind power could create electricity and pump water from a well. Inspired by this vision, William decided to build a windmill.
Despite never having built anything of scale, having no supplies, and knowing nothing about electricity, he set about his task. When others saw William combing through the junkyard in search of usable materials, they labeled him a madman and treated his family with derision. Yet William persisted and his father, though not understanding William’s vision, gave him time from fieldwork to keep tinkering away.
Day by day he found pictures in the textbook and deciphered words related to each image, gradually conquering one concept after another. For each mechanical device necessary for the windmill, he drew models on pieces of scratch paper. Mounds of junk covered the dirt floor of his room. Sections of the windmill began to take shape. Flattened PVC pipes became the blades. Bicycle spokes, bent and twisted, served multiple purposes.
His friend Geoffrey, the chief’s son, saw William painstakingly creating nuts and bolts from old nails. To erase hours of such labor, Geoffrey went to the general store and bought William a bag of nuts and bolts. William’s friend Gilbert suffered from anemia that caused his legs to swell from malnutrition during the famine, yet he steadfastly helped William and believed in the dream of a windmill that could generate electricity for lights and pump water for irrigation.
What so deeply inspires me about William’s story is his passionate desire to learn. When he couldn’t go to school, he tackled an enormous problem that forced him to learn on his own. I associate that same passion with Abraham Lincoln, who as a young man would walk miles to borrow a book that he would read by candlelight. I’m not going to tell you how this story ends but I will give you a clue. You can see William and his windmill on TED. I hope you will read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and be inspired to create your own “windmill,” your vision of hope for your community.
