The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba - Paperback

A must read!It is very simple true - story of a guy who fights all the odds presented by poverty, famine, lack of good education etc to get electricity to his house. William is simple village boy in Malawi who lacks basic necessity like good food, education, water electricity etc. Due to lack of means and paucity of food due to famine, he was forced to drop school and help his father in the farms. Still, fighting all odd,he taught himself to make a wind-mill from scrap of his house and generated electricity.This is highly inspiring for all of us.

Una historia real sobre cómo la magia de la infancia y el poder de la curiosidad pueden abrir paso a la esperanza en el más desolador de los entornos.Una lectura emotiva y personalmente enriquecedora.Muy recomendable.

Talk about rising above your environment, your life, your entire circumstances! I'm sure all inventors have had obstacles to overcome and that inner knowing of `this will work' keeping a person stepping forward and creating. I read this book while I was in Malawi, just to appreciate where he was coming from and the idea of creating something so useful from the trash and waste left behind is awesome! A place where duck tape is common and many things are in disrepair... to turn that around in a land where they still accuse people of witchcraft, takes a bright light!

We are so used to a predominance of bad news from Africa that a good news story is rare, but this story is utterly unique on so many levels. Not only is this book 'unputdownable', but it educated me on several things I thought I knew something about, like the struggle for survival in Africa, ingenuity in the face of adversity, and hope. But you haven't truly understood any of these things properly until you read this book and experience it through William Kamkwamba's eyes - a person with less than nothing of the comforts we're used to, but who did something quite extraordinary with very little. It should be a set work in every school, and stocked in every library not just because it's well written, but because there are so few books out there with a truly African voice.Not only did I gain enormous respect for William as a person, but he inspired me to get off my rear, buy a small portable solar panel that doesn't require wiring into the mains, and just make some kind of start at living 'off grid' not because I have to, but merely in honour of the author and because I can do so at the click of a button. Turns out another looming energy price hike justified the outlay, an added bonus!But this book's lesson runs much deeper - Africa is not a black hole of hope, but is our teacher. We need to relearn the basics and ask ourselves to look again at the way we live, and at how we use resources. We have forgotten how to take care of ourselves, and how to take responsibility and stop blaming others. William had no such luxury supporting him, he had absolutely nothing but the waste tip down the road and what he taught himself, and he just quietly got on with the job. So if this story inspires you too, and if you have any school textbooks going spare, send them to Malawi where books are prized beyond measure and kids LOVE to attend classes, with or without school buildings, because they can and because they love to learn!

I really enjoyed reading every page of this book, especially because it's based on a true story. It's about this young boy growing up in a deserted rural area in Malawi, Africa. His family is very poor, although it doesn't even belong to the poor social class. Its very touching to read about his personal life and his struggle to get some kind of education. And it's just amazing how one young intelligent boy suceeds to actually build a machine that produces power. Just amazing. I can very much recommend it.