The Boy Who Once Harnessed The Wind Uplifts Young Inventors
William Kamkwamba found power, literally and metaphorically, through adversity, creating a windmill using spare parts to provide electricity to his village at just 14-years-old. The Malawi native’s dedication and quest for knowledge led to his best-selling memoir, “The Boy who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Current of Electricity and Hope” in 2009.
His country’s drought in the early 2000s led to a lack of resources and financial opportunities, leaving Kamkwamba’s family without proper energy sources or the ability to pay for their son’s education. However, his audacity to resolve one of his family ‘s most pressing issues encouraged him to build a makeshift, yet efficient, windmill to power their home.
Nowadays, the scrappy teen inventor is a renowned figure in the technological and sustainability space, utilizing his platform to encourage young inventors to not let limited resources thwart their aspirations.
The TED Talk speaker shared with Afrotech about his journey and current mission of co-creating the Moving Windmills Project.
“We want to build this space where we are going to be able to bring in young people from all over the country to build a community of change-makers. Solutions sometimes don’t have to come from somewhere else, but the solution is within us. If we can be able to work together as a community, we can be able to figure out what best solution works for our challenges.”
The organization hopes through mentorship and the creation of an innovation center to facilitate workshops, the youth members can imagine and foster designs that can advance the infrastructure of their country.
The emphasis on renewable and homegrown resources are factors that contributed to Kamkwamba’s own mechanical achievements, something he hopes to harness within the new generation of inventors.
His focus on electric power sources will branch out into farming and vehicles, to not only connect brilliants minds from far-reaching places, but provide lifelong tools and tactics to ensure that their communities thrive.
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