The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind By William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
Published in 2012 32 pages
Utterly fantastic! This book hits on so many fronts - youth as change makers, green energy, recycling/reuse, the maker movement, libraries, and application of local knowledge to solve local problems.
William Kamkamba was from a small poor farming village in Malawi. This village had no electricity and no irrigation for the crops. A severe drought hit Malawi when William was 14, and his family came upon very hard times. They were only eating a handful of food once a day, and the money for William's school dried up with the harvest.
William sulked for a few weeks until he realized that there was a library down the road that had books that were donated from the U.S. He found a science book and an English dictionary that he used to scaffold the text. He had never seen a windmill before, and when he saw a picture of one in the book, he was fascinated. Once he found out that windmills can produce electricity and pump water, he resolved to "make electric wind".
William scavenged materials from the dump - a rusty tractor fan, PVC pipe, a bike frame with one wheel, a small bicycle light generator, and various sundry items. People thought he was crazy as he brainstormed and tinkered. This kid's ingenuity is astonishing, as evidenced by the above photo of William and his first windmill. In order to make the blades of the windmill, he melted PVC pipe, hammered it flat, and sawed them into shape. When William put the pieces together, he was able to power a lightbulb. He then made another windmill to pump water.
William spoke about his experience at a TED conference. Now he is at Dartmouth studying Environmental Engineering. He plans to use green energy to produce electricity and run irrigation systems across Malawi.
Do note that "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" was written by the boy who harnessed the wind.
He previously wrote a book for adults about this experience, and now it is in a succinct picture book with fantastic art.
Utterly fantastic! This book hits on so many fronts - youth as change makers, green energy, recycling/reuse, the maker movement, libraries, and application of local knowledge to solve local problems.
William Kamkamba was from a small poor farming village in Malawi. This village had no electricity and no irrigation for the crops. A severe drought hit Malawi when William was 14, and his family came upon very hard times. They were only eating a handful of food once a day, and the money for William's school dried up with the harvest.
William sulked for a few weeks until he realized that there was a library down the road that had books that were donated from the U.S. He found a science book and an English dictionary that he used to scaffold the text. He had never seen a windmill before, and when he saw a picture of one in the book, he was fascinated. Once he found out that windmills can produce electricity and pump water, he resolved to "make electric wind".
William scavenged materials from the dump - a rusty tractor fan, PVC pipe, a bike frame with one wheel, a small bicycle light generator, and various sundry items. People thought he was crazy as he brainstormed and tinkered. This kid's ingenuity is astonishing, as evidenced by the above photo of William and his first windmill. In order to make the blades of the windmill, he melted PVC pipe, hammered it flat, and sawed them into shape. When William put the pieces together, he was able to power a lightbulb. He then made another windmill to pump water.
William spoke about his experience at a TED conference. Now he is at Dartmouth studying Environmental Engineering. He plans to use green energy to produce electricity and run irrigation systems across Malawi.
Do note that "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" was written by the boy who harnessed the wind.
He previously wrote a book for adults about this experience, and now it is in a succinct picture book with fantastic art.
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