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A review by edh
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba
5.0
"I went to sleep dreaming of Malawi, and all the things made possible when your dreams are powered by your heart."
William Kamkwamba lived in an Africa of contradictions, where witchcraft bumped against faith in God and Allah-- where famine followed drought and officials denied the people's mortal hardships. The worst contradiction of all was that his family could work hard all year to plant a good crop just to see nature sweep it away from them; a people who barely subsisted hand to mouth. And when William believed he would never return to school for a lack of money, that was when his real learning began... sparked by the connection between bicycle light dynamos and his fascination with a library book describing how to build an "electric wind."
Henry Adams himself could not have been more fascinated by the potential of a simple dynamo to conquer darkness, thirst, and hunger. William's motivation was to change his family's fortunes through a new harvest of abundant and free wind power-- but he ended up tapping into his own talent to pull a community from the edge of poverty with nothing more than bits of junk and scrap metal.
I first heard about William's story through AfriGadget & TED, and I also saw his work featured at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry! Getting to read about his family and his hopes for a better future makes his accomplishments seem even more staggering. There is something magical about learning as you go, being driven by need and love, and the insistence on innovation despite naysayers and failure. His story will certainly inspire many people to dream of a better tomorrow... and to know that they can make it happen with little more than a book, some spare parts, and persistence.
William Kamkwamba lived in an Africa of contradictions, where witchcraft bumped against faith in God and Allah-- where famine followed drought and officials denied the people's mortal hardships. The worst contradiction of all was that his family could work hard all year to plant a good crop just to see nature sweep it away from them; a people who barely subsisted hand to mouth. And when William believed he would never return to school for a lack of money, that was when his real learning began... sparked by the connection between bicycle light dynamos and his fascination with a library book describing how to build an "electric wind."
Henry Adams himself could not have been more fascinated by the potential of a simple dynamo to conquer darkness, thirst, and hunger. William's motivation was to change his family's fortunes through a new harvest of abundant and free wind power-- but he ended up tapping into his own talent to pull a community from the edge of poverty with nothing more than bits of junk and scrap metal.
I first heard about William's story through AfriGadget & TED, and I also saw his work featured at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry! Getting to read about his family and his hopes for a better future makes his accomplishments seem even more staggering. There is something magical about learning as you go, being driven by need and love, and the insistence on innovation despite naysayers and failure. His story will certainly inspire many people to dream of a better tomorrow... and to know that they can make it happen with little more than a book, some spare parts, and persistence.