The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

I have just read the amazing story of William Kamkwamba, a young man from Malawi whose ingenuity and determination changed the lives of his family and community. He was forced to drop out of high school when his parents were unable to pay his school fees. But William was determined to keep up with his studies so he borrowed books from the tiny library (just three shelves) at the local school. He became fascinated by a couple of books about energy and although his English was poor he persevered to make sense of the information. At the same time a famine was sweeping through Malawi and life was a struggle for William and everyone around him. The description of the famine is harrowing yet throughout that time William never gave up on his dream. At the age of just 14, using scrap materials and his own ingenuity, he built a windmill that generated electricity, and changed the lives of his family and community.

I loved this book, it is an inspiration. Although parts of it are horrific throughout the story you can feel the strength of spirit, creativity and determination of William. As a library studies student I was fascinated by the role the tiny library of donated books played in William's life. William's story has spread around the world and he has spoken at TED conferences about his life (see the video below).