William Kamkwamba

The Boy Who Harnessed the

Wind

From the Book

Magic ruled his world

His father was strong and feared no magic
Father= hero to William
Family lived on farm
Took bubble gum
Guy who lost it put a curse on anyone who eat the gum
His father saved his life
Stories passed down generation to generation
Magic existed as a 3rd and powerful force
Invisible force
Fathers name is Trywell
Famous as a young boy
Farmer
Before farming he was a traveling trader

Williams Story

Born august 5, 1987 in Malawi, Africa

Country plagued by AIDS and poverty
Living with out luxuries
In 2002 Malawi had one of the worst famine in 50 years
For all it was a struggle to survive
At the age of 14 William was forced to drop out of school
His family couldnt afford $80-a-year tuition
Even thought he wasnt in a classroom he continued to learn
He wanted to build a windmill that could bring his family the electricity only 2% of Malawians could afford
His windmill project drew visitors from many kilometers away
He was invited to a TED conference
The Malawi Daily and bloggers/engineers were interested in his windmill
Because of fundraising it allowed William to re-enroll in high school
After 1 trimester William transferred to African Bible College Christian Academy, a private prep school in the
capital city of Lilongwe.
William became 1 of 97 inaugural students at the African Leadership Academy
Speaking engagements: TEDGlobal, World Economic Forum, African Leadership Academy,
African Economic Forum at Columbia University, Aspen Ideas Festival, TEDGlobal 2009, July, Maker Faire
Africa, summer, 2009, and Science Chicago, summer, 2009.
An exhibit features William as 1 of a dozen innovators and includes the Moving Wing Mills short film, photos
and electro-mechanical devices hand-made by William.
Media: front page Wall Street Journal, The Malawi Daily Times, the Sydney Morning Herald, La Repubblica<
Banker Magazine, and a special African issue of LUomo Vogue. Also Myriad blogs featured William and
Williams blog appeared on the front page of the news aggregators Digg and Reddit.

TED

Build an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scraps

Started a surprising journey
Wrote The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Born inventor
When he was 14, he built an electricity-producing windmill
WM powers 4 lights and 2 radios in his family home.

1. How do we define the personality traits of a

hero?
A hero is someone that changes the lives of the people around him
in a positive way.

2. How do the setting, conflicts, and

antagonists influence the development of
literary heroes?
My hero lives in Malawi, Africa (Moving Windmills Project.). In 2002
Williams village experienced one of the worst famines they have
had in 50 years. For the people of his village it was a struggle to
survive (Moving Windmills Project.).

3. How does a hero reflect his/her particular

culture and society?
Williams culture and society are reflected
because he took the negative climate of
his society and used it to his advantage.
He made the windmill because only 2% of
his village could afford the cost of
electricity (Moving Windmills Project.).
He want electricity to be affordable for
everyone in his village.

4. How does a hero represent his/her time period

and geographical area?

5. How do various cultures reward or recognize

their heroes?
After William Kamkwamba build his first windmill many organizations
recognized what he had done; the local malawi jornalists, bloggers,
newspapers, wed articles and TED. He was also invited to visit the
United States for the first time in December of 2007. William was on
the Daily Show in New York City for his book, "The Boy Who
Harnessed the Wind ("William Kamkwamba) .

6. How did his life change from the building of

his windmill?
William now is attending school and a
group of people pay for his education. He
has been to the U.S. and other countries
for conferences. He was also on the Daily
Show talking about his book.

7. What is William Planning on doing now

that he has become recognized and successful?
After William finishes his studies he is
planning on going back to his village to
help the people there receive the common
luxuries most people have.

8. What is William doing to help his village,

and what new "luxuries" do they have because
of his windmills?

9. Are there other heroes that have used modern

technology to benefit the ways of there society?
Yes there are other heroes like William out
there. (still reaserching) on news article I
found was about volunteers helping teach
teens in Africa use web-based technology.

10.Are the others that used modern technology

considered heroes?