An inspirational story of towering heights
William Kamkwmamba was a young man who was dealt a low hand in life: he resided in a rural village of Malawi with inadequate schooling, water and power source.  As an early teen, he was forced to drop out of high school due to his family’s financial strait; yet he was determined to make something more of his life.  At the age of 14, he conjured up towering windmills in his dreams.  Unlike the misadventures of Cervantes’ quixotic hero, however, William actually envisioned these machines as an agent that would bring about real hope for his nation’s future.

It all began when William spotted a picture of a windmill in a textbook (mind you, not the actual building plans) and resolved to build one from scratch. Using found materials around his village: broken bicycle, tractor fan, melted plastic pipes, bamboo and used copper wires; he actually built a series of windmills without any prior knowledge of wind turbine technology. Through his experiment, he’s been able to power his house at night, listen to the local stations, and pump up water from the arid terrain.

Now a visit to America reinforces his dreams to complete his education abroad and bring power to his country.  One of the best inspirational stories that was presented at the 2009 TED Conference in Long Beach, California.  I was blown away!

Image courtesy of White African

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If you want to support this noble cause, visit: http://www.williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/