African Inventor of the Month: William Kamkwamba

William Kamkwamba is a Malawian inventor famous for building a windmill from bicycle parts and scrap metal at the age of 14. He is an author of two books, including film-adapted, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.” William also built a solar-powered water pump in his village.

A Voracious Reader

William was born on 5th August, 1987, in a town in Malawi called Dowa. Growing up in a poor family had its toll on young William Kamkwamba, as he had to drop out of secondary school when the community was hit hard by farming in 2001.

Lack of school didn’t stop William from learning.
Even at the age of fourteen years, the young Malawian frequently visited the community library where he would borrow books and read on his own. One of the books that had a profound impact on him was “Using Energy,” an American textbook that had wind turbines depicted on its cover. That was when he made his first wind turbine.

Blue Gum Trees and A Scrap Yard

Following instructions in the books he picked up in the library, William Kamkwamba built his first wind turbine. He had to forage a bit for the parts to complete his project, relying mostly on old bicycle parts and old shock absorbers. William scavenged his blades from old tractor fan blades and employed a blue gum tree to finally create a five-metre windmill.

Hooked onto an old car battery, William Kamkwamba’s windmill was only capable of powering four bulbs in his family house. He added a circuit breaker and light switches to charge a neighbour’s phone in addition.

Despite his efforts, William figured he could generate more power if only he could harness more of the wind. And so he raised the initial 5-metre high windmill to approximately 12 metres using tree branches. This allowed the turbines to catch the breeze right above the trees.

More Power For the People

William Kamkwamba’s inventions have had tremendous effects on the lives of his little town. Soon after creating the wind turbines, William added another mill to pump water to irrigate their farms. In addition, he has built a solar-powered pump to draw water out of a deep well to provide clean, potable water for his community.

As his impact grew, William earned more recognition for his inventions. He spoke at a TedGlobal 2007 event in Arusha, Tanzania, after Emeka Okafor, a Ted conference director became interested in his journey. The Ted talk opened up doors for the young Malawian inventor. He received scholarships to pursue his secondary education. In 2014, William Kamkwamba graduated from New Hampshire’s Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

In 2013, William Kamkwamba’s book, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” was selected as the “1 book, 1 community” title for Louden County‘s Virginia Public Library System. The programme, “1 book, 1 community,” is designed to promote dialogue and share personal perspectives from reading the same book. That same year, William was mentioned among TIME’s “30 People Under 30 Changing The World.”

A year later, the book became the common book at Auburn University as well as University of Michigan College of Engineering, where William attended an event in his honour to discuss his life.

On March 1, 2019, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” was released on Netflix as a feature film. Written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, the film fictionalizes events that led to William KamKwamba inventing the first windmill to save his village, Wimbe, from drought and famine.

Moving Windmills

William Kamkwamba currently runs a non-governmental organisation called, Moving Windmills, to “pursue rural economic development and education projects in Malawi.” Creating African solutions for African problems, Moving Windmills is partnering with local leaders to create appropriate solutions to each community’s unique problems.