William Kamkwamba: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind--Super Inspiring Story

[Nathanael]

A nice story to start the week off with. Brings back the human element to the whole energy conversation/debate.




William Kamkwamba was not your ordinary teenager! This young man from Malawi impacted his village in a great big way.

In 2002, a devastating drought struck Malawi that left thousands dead and left Kamwkama’s family on the brink of starvation. At just 14, young William was forced to quit school because his family could no longer afford the $80 annual tuition. Faced with a bleak future, the teenager frequented the local library. One day, while looking at a library textbook, he saw a picture that forever changed his life. He saw a windmill and wondered if he could build one that would bring electricity to his home, pump water and help alleviate hunger.

When he wasn’t busy helping his family on the farm, he worked on his prototype at night by the light of a paraffin lamp. Gathering scrap parts from a junkyard, he began to build his windmill. He used old bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade and an old shock absorber. William flattened and shaped PVC pipes into blades by heating them over a fire.


Link: http://www.energyboom.com/wind/william-kamkwamba-boy-who-harnessed-wind

[druidity33]

1. an inspiring story. K&R. nt.

[bananas]

2. He'll be on The Daily Show this Wednesday.

http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/williamkamkwamba/2009/10/wednesday-night-im-going-to-be-a-guest-on-the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart.html

[nilram]

3. righton, beats e-town all to heck. good on 'im. -nt

[NNadir]

4. Does this mean his whole family can construct a Tesla car out of discarded electronic waste?

Africa now seems to be a major destination for that stuff.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/story?id=8215714&page=1