The true story of the Boy who harnessed the Wind

William Kamkwamba was born into a peasant family in the village of Kasungu, Malawi. Despite having always lived in poverty, the situation became complicated in 2001, when a drought hit the region and caused great disruption to the entire community. Many died of hunger and William and his family began to eat only once a day.

His family could no longer afford to send him to school, so he dropped out. However, Kamkwamba continued his studies on his own by borrowing books from a small library in the village. “I was determined to do anything to be able to learn. So I went to the library and read science books, especially physics,” he said. He did not speak English, but even that did not stop him from analysing and interpreting illustrations and diagrams to try to understand what was in the books.

One of the books, an American textbook titled Using Energy, inspired him to build a windmill that could power his family’s home. This book changed William’s destiny forever. “Pumping water meant irrigating. A defence against hunger, which we were going through at that time.” It was then that he decided to build a windmill himself. With this goal clearly defined, the child inventor had to improvise essential raw materials for construction.

Since Kamkwamba could not read English, he used the book’s illustrations to build the windmill from scrap material, including tractor and bicycle parts, plastic pipes, and tree branches. The 5 meter high windmill was able to power four lights and two radios, and soon neighbours arrived to charge their cell phones. Kamkwamba went on to build other windmills for generating electricity and pumping water in his village.

Today at the age of 36, William splits his time between the U.S. and Malawi. He currently working full-time together with his wife and business partner, Olivia Scott Kamkwamba, at a Malawi-based organization called ‘Moving Windmills Project’ that works in partnership with local leaders and farmers to secure a viable future for Malawians. Their efforts have led to construction of low-cost water wells, solar powered pumps and new facilities for schools.