William Kamkwamba

by Oliver Hoath (age 12)

Today I am going to tell you about William Kamkwamba who built his first electricity-producing windmill at age 14.

I learnt about his story from his book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (first published in 2009).

William lived in a small village in Africa called Malawi. In 2001, during a time of severe drought which caused major food shortages, thousands of people died of hunger or hunger-related diseases.

William’s family could only afford to eat one meal a day. They decided that they would eat at dinner-time because they didn’t want to go to bed with an empty stomach. Typically, they would eat just a mouthful of stewed pumpkin leaves for their “dinner”.

Since his family could no longer afford for Will to go to school, he would spend his days sneaking into the local library where he taught himself how to create electricity.

He spent hours at the local junk yard looking for scrap materials that he would then cart home and, through trial and error, he began to construct a windmill that powered a few lights and a radio.

The local community thought he was crazy and did not support his initiative. But William refused to give up. He later built a second, more powerful, windmill that could pump water for irrigation, thus helping his family survive through times of drought.

William’s story teaches us the importance of curiosity and education and to keep trying even when faced with serious challenges. William now manages a global project called the Moving Windmills Project which brings clean water, education, and energy to communities in Africa.