Summary

Name of Capital: Lilongwe

Area: 118,484.00 square kilometers

Population: 13.11 mill. hab.

Limits: It limits E and N to Tanzania, S to Mozambique and W to Zambia.

Major cities: Blantyre 518.800 room. Mzuzu 94.400 (2000).

Official languages: English (official), chichewa (official), others.

Main religions: Catholics 66%; animist cults 18%; other 16%.

Currency: Kwacha

Geography

The country can be divided into four regions: the Rif Valley, which crosses the country
from north to south and is home to Lake Malawi and the Shire River Valley; the large
central plateau, and which occupies approximately three-quarters of the total area.

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The name "Malawi" comes from the term maravi, a Bantu tribe that migrated from
southern Congo around 1400 AD. C.

Tribal conflicts and constant migration prevented the formation of a unique Malawian
society until the beginning of the 20th century. Over the past century, ethnic and tribal
distinctions have decreased to the point that there are no major tribal frictions,
although some regional divisions still occur.

Malawi is a very religiously diverse country. The majority of its inhabitants are
Christians, but there are also important animistic and Muslim communities. Religion is
not a factor that complicates travel or requires special measures.

The economy is based on agriculture, especially subsistence, with a highly rural

population. The Malaysian government relies heavily on external support to meet its
economic needs, although these needs have increased since 2000. The government
faces major challenges in the growth of
the economy, education, health, and environmental protection, and is becoming
financially independent.

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Through the preoccupation of a terrible harvest, William begins investigating how

bicycle dynamos are able to light a bulb with electricity generated by a person
pedaling. William begins to dream of the improvements he could make to his family’s
life if he had electricity to power lights and irrigation pumps. He studies hard for the
exit exams for Wimbe primary school so that he can get chosen for a good secondary
school, become a scientist, and better his family’s conditions. Meanwhile, the corn
supply in Wimbe continues to get lower and lower as more farmers from the outer
villages come into William’s village looking for ganyu (day work) after such a dismal
crop.

William and his family are down to one meal a day, and his mother gives birth to
another baby girl. Keeping up hope, Trywell and Agnes name her Tiyamike, meaning
Thank God, instead of reflecting on their poor circumstances at the moment. Agnes
starts a hot cake stand to make enough money for supper each night, but the price of
maize continues to rise as the food shortage goes on unrelieved. William’s older sister
Annie even elopes with a young teacher from the next village over to escape the
poverty and starvation in Wimbe. Villagers, including William, line up for hours for
even the rumor of maize at the government storehouse, and even start to sell their
possessions for the price of one day’s meal.

As the famine continues, William does get the good news that he has been accepted at
Kachokolo Secondary School. It is not one of the top schools William wanted, but it will
at least give him a chance to further his educational goals. He starts classes in mid-
January, but is forced to drop out when Trywell does not have the money to pay
William’s school fees.

Finally, in March, the young corn called dowe is ready to eat. William and Geoffrey
celebrate in the field, and the Kamkwamba family is able to eat semi-regular meals
once again. The village begins to come back to life, and William is able to think about
school once more. To keep his mind active, William goes to the library at Wimbe
Primary School, where he finds books on physics and engineering that change his life.
From a diagram and illustration in the book Explaining Physics, William gets the idea to
build a windmill to generate electricity from the wind. With Geoffrey’s help, William
makes a small prototype windmill out of recycled materials and an electromagnetic
motor he built himself out of old radio parts.
With that small success, William begins to gather materials for a full size windmill
strong enough to power lights for his home. He spends his days in an abandoned scrap
yard near Kachokolo

school looking through the old machinery for any parts that will be useful. Meanwhile,
classes at Kachokolo start again after being canceled during the famine. William
attends for a few weeks, but is once again unable to afford the school fees.

On a routine inspection of Wimbe primary school, officials notice William’s windmill and
inform Dr. Hartford Mchazima about a talented rural boy with an aptitude for science.
Dr. Mchazima helps spread William’s story across Malawi and across the world as
William is featured in an American blog. William becomes a fellow at TEDGlobal 2007,
and goes to Arusha, Tanzania to present his windmill project. The attention of such
significant Malawian figures earns William back the approval of his town and a
scholarship to a boarding school. While at TEDGlobal, William meets many people,
African, American, and European, who share his goals of improving life for people in
emerging countries through new technology. A few of these inventors and innovators,
including Tom Rielly, help William get sponsors so he can make several practical
improvements in his village and attend excellent schools such as the African Bible
Christian Academy.

William improves his English and travels to America, speaking about his windmill and
learning about even more things that might help Africans reach the same quality of life
as Americans. William then returns to Africa to attend the African Leadership Academy
in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he can collaborate with other young inventors,
scientists, and activists who have a vision for bringing Africa into a brighter future.
William dreams of inspiring people with his own story of success despite terrible
hardship, and works to give other children in Malawi the education that they need to
build their own windmills and improve their own lives.