William Kamkwamba dropped out because his family could not pay 80 dollars in school fees. He built a wind turbine from scrap.
In Malawi in 2001, a teenager read a library book, collected bicycle parts and blue gum trees, and built a turbine that powered his family’s house.
When famine struck in 2001, William Kamkwamba’s family could no longer afford the school fees of about 80 dollars a year. He had to leave Kanchokolo secondary school. He did not stop learning. He began visiting the local library, where he discovered electronics.
He read a book called Using Energy and decided to build a wind turbine. He experimented first with a small model using a cheap dynamo, and eventually made a working turbine that powered his father’s radio.
From a village to the world
Using blue gum trees, bicycle parts and materials from a local scrapyard, he built a larger machine that powered several appliances in the family house in Wimbe, about 23 kilometres east of Kasungu. Local farmers and journalists came to look at the spinning device, and his fame grew in international news.
He has since built a solar-powered water pump that supplies the first drinking water in his village, and more wind turbines, the tallest 12 metres. He took part in the first Maker Faire Africa in Ghana in August 2009, and is the author of a book about his story.
The lesson for any young person without money for school: a library card, curiosity and scrap metal can start a career in engineering.
