[Faline]

William Kamkwamba of Malawi was expelled from his high school for non-payment. At 14 years old he went to the library and started reading an American textbook called 'Using Energy.'

Using scrap parts and garbage, William set out to make a windmill which could provide electricity to his village. People thought the kid was nuts. Turns out he was just a genius. The windmill now brings power to many houses in his village. He's finishing another windmill to pump water for irrigation. Well played, William, well played.

[Kazoo]

proves that school sucks

[Viking64]

That's fucking awesome!!!!

[güttsfükk]

awesome post

[NEVERBACKZ]

Get that lad an icecream clever bastard! Oh and put a flake in it for him!

[Blewvane]

Well shit. The first one i've seen that isn't laying about breeding just waiting for a handout. Ok, all of africa can die except for him. I have alot of respect for anyone that has the dash to make a go of it and not give in to the temptation of crime, and so young. This is the kind of person that should be given help, imagine what he can do with the right resources.

[güttsfükk]

Originally Posted by Blewvane ↗

Well shit. The first one i've seen that isn't laying about breeding just waiting for a handout. Ok, all of africa can die except for him. I have alot of respect for anyone that has the dash to make a go of it and not give in to the temptation of crime, and so young. This is the kind of person that should be given help, imagine what he can do with the right resources.

aye, just a bit of money and he could save africa
though i dunno if that's a good thing

[gatagato]

I bet his expulsion gave to him the strenght to study even more and to prove to himself (and to those that expelled him) that you don't need a school if you own a working brain. BTW, the dude is now senior at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg.
Really an awesome story, thanks for sharing

NEW YORK, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- McGraw-Hill Education congratulates William Kamkwamba on the release of his autobiography, THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND: Creating Currents of Electricity & Hope (William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishing). William's powerful story began at age 14 when he borrowed a McGraw-Hill Education science textbook, which was donated to his village in Malawi by the McGraw-Hill International Book Donation Program, the International Book Bank and the American Institute for Research.

By utilizing the experiments in Professor Atwater's book, William, now 22 and a senior at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa, was able to bring electricity to his family and village for the first time. William's quest to bring electricity to his African village led to the creation of a windmill built out of a broken bicycle, tractor fan blade, old shock absorber and blue gum trees, which generated enough electricity to power four light bulbs and two radios. Subsequently, William moved on to work on projects to prevent malaria and provide clean water, solar power and lighting to his village.

"William Kamkwamba's story is a testament to the impact of educational content and the power of knowledge," said Peter Davis, president, McGraw-Hill Education. "By using the knowledge and information in Using Energy, William's journey clearly demonstrates the vital role that education, inventiveness and innovation can play in helping to raise standards of living and give hope to communities around the world."

Professor Mary D. Atwater, the author of Using Energy, was inspired when she learned about William's story. "I found a fantastic story come to life in William Kamkwamba's book about his vision and commitment to provide his family electricity with a windmill," Professor Atwater said. "I became involved in the McGraw-Hill Science program many years ago because one of the major goals was to provide students with a dream of science and the science knowledge and skills to change the world around them. I am proud that I played a part in providing Mr. Kamkwamba the opportunity to see and use the book Using Energy."

THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND: Creating Currents of Electricity & Hope chronicles William's journey - a tale of trial and error, struggle and success, and a hunger for knowledge - that started when the windmills on the cover of Using Energy caught his eye and he borrowed the book from his village library. William's autobiography has received accolades from Former Vice President Al Gore and Carter Roberts, president & CEO of the World Wildlife Foundation.

http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/...thor-and-.html

http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/

[güttsfükk]

while a nice story it does remind me of how technology is destroying some tribal cultures

[gatagato]

Originally Posted by güttsfükk ↗

while a nice story it does remind me of how technology is destroying some tribal cultures

Sadly, it's happening to many cultures: I agree, technology does not always improve the quality of people's lives, especially if the price to pay is a complete loss of identity (which often, consequentially, means loss of pride and dignity for entire tribes). Often, the process of improving technologically some tribe's lives, turns out to be a damage to them, and often is as useless as trying to humanize wild animals as pets (if not even dangerous).
For example, I'm not a member of some tribe, but my island is litterally being defaced by wind turbines: yes, they do produce clean power, but since our economy is mostly based on tourism, and since tourism is mostly based on the beauty of our natural resources and to the ancient habits of my people, to conserve the natural beauty of the island would have helped our economy much more than those damned turbines. As well as the spread of the most spoken languages is killing many other ones: The list of the Recently extinct languages and the one of the endangered ones are impressive: it's all culture lost forever, and yes, that's very sad. I thought (and still think) that the personal story of this guy is awesome, but there's always another side of the coin