Genius School Dropout
William Kamkwamba (19 years old) who built a windmill power system for his family’s home in Malawi, was a star of TEDGlobal 2007 . He is a self-taught engineer with an infectious smile and crazy-wide-open mindset.
William’s story begins when at the age of 14 he was forced to drop out of high school because his parents could no longer afford the school fees. Dedicated to continue learning, but no longer in school, William often visited his local library to check out books about the subjects he was interested in. He happened upon a book called Using Energy, a textbook about how energy is made. Inside the book were plans for building a windmill to generate electricity. With plenty of time on his hands and considering his entire village had no electricity, William decided to try and build the windmill. Using sticks, spare bicycle parts and a few other cheap supplies, William was able to contruct his windmill for only $15. The project was successful.
Over the next few years he modified the windmill to increase its output. Adding a fourth blade to the original three and raising it higher, from 5 meters to 12 meters, to receive better air flow. The windmill is able to power lights for three rooms inside his family’s house as well as a light outside, two radios and his neighbors’ cell phones.
Eventually, word of this reamarkable achievement spread and William’s windmill was covered in the local media. He found a mentor in a local doctor and the publicity raised enough money to send him back to school. William’s efforts were deemed so admirable that he was invited to the recent (Technology Entertainment Design) TED Global Conference in Tanzania this June as one of 100 special fellows, along with Bono, Jane Goodall and many famous African musicians and scholars.
Arriving in Arusha, Tanzania, on a plane during his first time out of Malawi was part of a series of firsts for William, he soon used a computer and the internet for the first time as well. At the conference, he showed a slideshow of the windmill project and was interviewed on stage.
William writes:
Two weeks ago I used a computer for the first time. I learned about Google and searched for “windmill” and “solar energy.” I was amazed to learn how many entries there were for both subjects. My friends showed me how to create an email address and now I am on Gmail. Now I am practicing sending and receiving emails when I have access to a computer. I don’t have regular access to a computer yet, but I’m working on a way to get online more easily. You can write me at williamkamkwamba at g mail dot com.
To follow William’s progress check out his blog called William Kamwkamba’s Malawi Windmill Blog.
Pretty amazing huh! What do you think?
