November 13, 2009

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

David H. sent along a link to an amazing story of a 14 year-old boy and book about his life. David said, How about this for an inspiring boy/man story? Nourish a young person's spirit and their curiosity and look what can happen!

This is the link to the Wired magazine article about 14 year-old William Kamkwamba, a boy from a small village WAY off the electrical grid in Malawi. William saw a photo of a windmill in a textbook and with that picture and an amazing amount of creativity and drive, has built a series of windmills that according to Wired, now generate enough electricity to light several bulbs in his family’s house, power radios and a TV, charge his neighbors’ cellphones and pump water for the village’s fields and household use.

This is a very inspirational tale of a boy's innate creativity and love of tinkering, building, and exploration. It's a real day-brightener.

Through articles published about his creation, William was "discovered," and the result is a book about his story and a number of very inspirational video clips like the one below. I can imagine showing these clips to a group of boys and then challenging them to do what William did . . . make a backyard windmill!

Check out this link if the video clip doesn't appear.

YouTube clip:



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