Erstellt am: 6. 12. 2016 - 00:01 Uhr
FM4 Intelligentkalender #6: Moving Windmills
William Kamkwamba is definitely a contributor to all things positive and innovative in this world. Back in 2001, when he was just 14 years old, William Kamkwamba did something the now 29 year-old continues to build upon.
He was living on his family farm in Masitala Village, two and half hours northeast of Malawi’s capital city Lilongwe.
There was a severe famine in 2001 and his family had no money to pay his high school fees (80 US dollars a year) and so William was forced to drop out of school BUT he still had access to his primary school's library and he decided to take out an American book called "Using Energy". He wanted to build a windmill.
Using and adapting instructions in the children’s book, he actually built a windmill! From bicycle parts, blue gum trees, and materials collected in a local scrapyard!
CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9424456
His windmill generated 12 watts of electricity which was enough to power four light bulbs and two radios. Since then, William has been involved in projects to ensure clean water, malaria prevention, solar power and lighting for the six homes in his family compound; a deep water well with a solar powered pump for clean water, and a drip irrigation system in his village. He also graduated from the Ivy League American Dartmouth University and has been sent all around the world to apply his know-how for creating clean energy, especially in rural third-world regions.
He is also the subject of an award-winning documentary (‘William and the Windmill’) and co-wrote the NY Times bestselling book: ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’.