William Kamkwamba

If you want to make it, all you have to do is try.

William Kamkwamba

When Kamkwamba was 14, drought caused famine in Malawi. His family could no longer afford to send Kamkwamba to school. He continued to educate himself by studying in the library. In one of the books he found a picture of a windmill. Using found objects such as car and bicycle parts, Kamkwamba was able to piece together a working windmill. The windmills Kamkwamba built for his village provide electricity for light, radio, TV, charging of mobile phones, as well as for watering crops.

A film was made about Kamkwamba's feat called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and this film was based on a bestselling book by Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. The book has been translated into more than twenty languages. Kamkwamba did environmental studies at Dartmouth University, and now works as an entrepreneur, dividing his time between Malawi and the United States.

Think of your dreams and ideas as tiny miracle machines inside you that no one can touch. The more faith you put into them, the bigger they get, until one day they'll rise up and taken you with them.

William Kamkwamba

Today Kamkwamba's primarily works for the Moving Windmills Project, which is dedicated to developing innovative solutions to problems that Malawi faces, for example building low-cost water wells using percussion drilling, installing solar-powered pumps and energy systems, renovating schools, providing learning materials and much more.

Malawi is a young country, with 50% of the population being under the age of 25. 80% of Malawians are subsistence farmers, but the education system does not focus on teaching how to improve farming methods. Climate change is already causing problems in Malawi as farmers experience droughts and floods in the same year. Kamkwamba believes that through education, fostering ideas and innovation, Malawi can have a better future.

Where the world sees trash, Africa recycles. Where the world see junk, Africa sees rebirth.

William Kamkwamba

In the TED talk below, you can watch Kamkwamba talk about how he built the first windmill and also about his life.