The boy who harnessed the windby William Kamkwamba and, Bryan Mealer, ISBN:9780007316199, R130.00
Book overview
When William Kamkwamba was just 14 years old his parents told him that he must leave school and come and work on the family farm as they could no longer afford to $80 a year tuition fees. This is the story of his refusal to give up on learning and reading. A story of passion, determination and remarkable achievements.Malawi is a country battling AIDS, drought and famine, and in 2002, a season of floods, followed by the most severe famine in fifty years, brought it to its knees. Like the majority of the population, William's family were farmers. They were totally reliant of the maize crop. By the end of 2001, after many lean and difficult years, there was no more crop. They were running out of food - had nothing to sell - and had months until they would be able to harvest their crop again.Forced to leave school at 14 years old, with no hope of raising the funds to go again, William resorted to borrowing books from the small local library to continue his education. One day, browsing the titles, he picked up a book about energy, with a picture of a wind turbine on the front cover. Fascinated by science and electricity, but knowing little more about the technology, William decided to build his own. Ridiculed by those around him, and exhausted from his work in the fields every day, and using nothing more than bits of scrap metal, old bicycle parts and wood from the blue gum tree, he slowly built his very own windmill.This windmill has changed the world in which William and his family live. Only 2 per cent of Malawi has electricity; William's windmill now powers the lightbulbs and radio for his compound. He has since built more windmills for his school and his village.When news of William's invention spread, people from across the globe offered to help him. Soon he was re-enrolled in college and travelling to America to visit wind farms. This is his incredible story.William's dream is that other African's will learn to help themselves ' one windmill and one light bulb at a time ' and that maybe one day they will be able to power their own computers, and use the internet, and see for themselves how his life has changed after picking up that book in the library. No preview available - 2010 - 288 pages |
Reviews
How Knowledge Can Change the World
User Review
- - Amazon.com -
William Kamkwamba grows up in a village in rural Malawi where people still believe in the power of magic and access to learning is very limited. William's father is a farmer, entirely dependent on the ...
User Review
- - Amazon.com - William Kamkwamba grows up in a village in rural Malawi where people still believe in the power of magic and access to learning is very limited. William's father is a farmer, entirely dependent on the ...
His story does not add up
User Review
- - Amazon.com -
I have read the book but one thing that kept poping in my mind is "was it really possible"? Here is just one example: He said he extracted a motor out of a radio than built his first generator but as ...
User Review
- - Amazon.com - I have read the book but one thing that kept poping in my mind is "was it really possible"? Here is just one example: He said he extracted a motor out of a radio than built his first generator but as ...
What an uplifting TRUE story
User Review - - Amazon.com -
Having been to Malawi several times I looked forward to reading this book. I wished I could have read such a book before my first trip there. This book gives a real picture of what life is like in ...
User Review
- - Amazon.com - Having been to Malawi several times I looked forward to reading this book. I wished I could have read such a book before my first trip there. This book gives a real picture of what life is like in ...
Should Be Required Reading!
User Review - - Amazon.com -
The book wasn't what I expected. Although it was a remarkable tale of a boy's success in constructing a windmill to produce electricity in an impoverished African village, the accounting of his thirst ...
User Review
- - Amazon.com - The book wasn't what I expected. Although it was a remarkable tale of a boy's success in constructing a windmill to produce electricity in an impoverished African village, the accounting of his thirst ...
