The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope (P.S.)

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Description

William Kamkwamba used to be born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science used to be mystery. It used to be also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a remarkable true story about human inventiveness and its power to triumph over crippling adversity. It is going to inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual’s ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.

Amazon Best of the Month, September 2009: Discarded motor parts, PVC pipe, and an old bicycle wheel may be junk to most of the people, but in the inspired hands of William Kamkwamba, they’re instruments of opportunity. Growing up amid famine and poverty in rural Malawi, wind used to be some of the few abundant resources to be had, and the inventive fourteen-year-old saw its energy to be able to power his dreams. “With a windmill, we’d in any case release ourselves from the troubles of darkness and hunger,” he realized. “A windmill meant more than just power, it used to be freedom.” Despite the biting jeers of village skeptics, young William devoted himself to borrowed textbooks and salvage yards in pursuit of a device that could produce an “electric wind.” The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is an inspiring story of an indomitable will that refused to bend to doubt or circumstance. When the world looked to be against him, William Kamkwamba set out to change it. —Dave Callanan

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