William and the Wondrous Windmill
With nothing but a fistful of cornmeal in his stomach, some old textbooks, and an armory of curiosity, William Kamkwamba embarked on a daring plan to give his country a luxury that westerners considered a necessity: running water and electricity.Forced to drop out of secondary school when his family could not afford the school fees, 14-year-old Kamkwamba used his free time to build a windmill that operated on principles of physics he managed to teach himself. Kamkwamba’s inquisitive nature is apparent from the start. As a young boy, he took apart radios to discover how they worked, built go-karts out of beer cartons, and created screwdrivers with household materials. With the innocence that only a child could …show more content…
His revelation of a windmill was executed so well that William attracted many other opportunities to help others from around the world. Shortly after the windmill was constructed, Kamkwamba’s life became much more upbeat. He gets the chance to visit many places to promote his invention, among them New York City, California, and Las Vegas (where Kamkwamba marvels that “women in their underpants serve free soda.”) (Wiede). From all his life experiences, William later decided he wants to write an autobiography. He knows he cannot do it by himself, so American journalist Bryan Mealer worked with William to co-write the book. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, which describes the young black man's work, as well as the poverty and death his village experiences due to the drought and famine, was published in 2009 and became a bestseller ("William Kamkwamba"). After his autobiography became well known, a documentary was made showcasing William and his invention. William and the Windmill had a premiere date in early 2013. Directed and produced by Ben Nabors, and shot across several continents, the film documents William Kamkwamba’s journey beginning with the TEDGlobal conference in Arusha, Tanzania, through his college attendance in the United States in 2011 ("William and the
With nothing but a fistful of cornmeal in his stomach, some old textbooks, and an armory of curiosity, William Kamkwamba embarked on a daring plan to give his country a luxury that westerners considered a necessity: running water and electricity.Forced to drop out of secondary school when his family could not afford the school fees, 14-year-old Kamkwamba used his free time to build a windmill that operated on principles of physics he managed to teach himself. Kamkwamba’s inquisitive nature is apparent from the start. As a young boy, he took apart radios to discover how they worked, built go-karts out of beer cartons, and created screwdrivers with household materials. With the innocence that only a child could …show more content…
His revelation of a windmill was executed so well that William attracted many other opportunities to help others from around the world. Shortly after the windmill was constructed, Kamkwamba’s life became much more upbeat. He gets the chance to visit many places to promote his invention, among them New York City, California, and Las Vegas (where Kamkwamba marvels that “women in their underpants serve free soda.”) (Wiede). From all his life experiences, William later decided he wants to write an autobiography. He knows he cannot do it by himself, so American journalist Bryan Mealer worked with William to co-write the book. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, which describes the young black man's work, as well as the poverty and death his village experiences due to the drought and famine, was published in 2009 and became a bestseller ("William Kamkwamba"). After his autobiography became well known, a documentary was made showcasing William and his invention. William and the Windmill had a premiere date in early 2013. Directed and produced by Ben Nabors, and shot across several continents, the film documents William Kamkwamba’s journey beginning with the TEDGlobal conference in Arusha, Tanzania, through his college attendance in the United States in 2011 ("William and the