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Do you believe in yourself even when no one does?
Reading Time: 6 minutes | Age Limit: 9-12 | Country Origin: Malawi
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“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”
Meet the innovator:
When drought stole his school, a boy turned junk into genius. Armed with curiosity, old bike parts, and a dream, this boy built a windmill that lit up his village—and the world. This inspiring true story proves that with courage and creativity, even the darkest times can spark the brightest ideas.
Story in motion
The Boy Who Turned Wind into Light
Do you believe in yourself even when no one does?
In a small African village on a farm, there once lived a bright, creative, curious boy with his family. He loved building things and had a wild imagination. He loved playing with his two best friends Gilbert and Geoffrey, and creating toys like trucks and balls from discarded beer cartons, sticks, and plastic bags.
One day, a terrible drought hit their land. There wasn’t enough food, and his family lost all their crop. His family couldn’t make any living and the boy had to stop going to school. Even though he couldn’t go to school, he still borrowed books from his friends and studied on his own. He was especially interested in science and how things worked.
One day, he came across an American primary school textbook from the library “Using Energy” with a picture of a windmill. He didn’t understand all the words, but the pictures showed that wind could make electricity. That gave him a big idea.
He decided to build his own windmill to help his family and village. He didn’t have money or tools, but he was an imaginative innovator who improvised and repurposed to get what he needed.
He went to forage in the town junkyard for the materials he thought he might use. He made tools from old bike parts and searched the junkyard for pieces.
Kids laughed at him, they would yell out, “Hey look, that’s the crazy boy, digging in the garbage again!” He tried to explain what he was trying to create, but his words were drowned out by the cruel taunts. Other people in his village thought he was going crazy. But the boy kept going.
What do you think gave the boy strength to keep going, even when others didn’t believe in him?
He used old wood, bicycle wheels, rubber, and pipes to build a tall tower with spinning blades. When he finished, people gathered to see what he had made. They laughed and asked what it was. He called it “electric wind.”
He turned a bolt to unlock the blades, and they started to spin. Slowly at first, then faster. A tiny bulb in his hand began to flicker—and then, it glowed brightly!
He used old wood, bicycle wheels, rubber, and pipes to build a tall tower with spinning blades. When he finished, people gathered to see what he had made. They laughed and asked what it was. He called it “electric wind.”
He turned a bolt to unlock the blades, and they started to spin. Slowly at first, then faster. A tiny bulb in his hand began to flicker—and then, it glowed brightly!
Everyone cheered. He used the windmill to light his home and power radios. The same neighbors who once laughed now asked to charge their phones.
When the librarian in the library from where the boy borrowed books, Mrs Edith Sikelo, heard about the windmill that he had built, she informed the deputy director of the MTTA, the Malawian NGO responsible for setting up of the community library. After he saw the windmill, he invited the local press to see it. Reporters from ‘The Malawi Daily Times,’ wrote a long story about boy’s moving windmills.
As a result of all the attention he received, the boy was able to return to school after a gap of five years. He graduated from the African Leadership Academy in Roodepoort, South Africa, in 2010 and then entered Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire in the United States. He earned a degree in environmental studies in 2014. The boy was William Kamkwamba.
As a result of all the attention he received, the boy was able to return to school after a gap of five years. He graduated from the African Leadership Academy in Roodepoort, South Africa, in 2010 and then entered Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire in the United States. He earned a degree in environmental studies in 2014. The boy was William Kamkwamba.
What important lesson can we learn from William’s self-belief?
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“William Kamkwamba: Lighting Up Lives”
Meet the visionary:
William Kamkwamba was born on August 5th, 1987 in Malawi, in Southeastern Africa. Kamkwamba, grew up on a farm in the village of Masitala with his parents and six sisters. After he successfully built his first windmill, William Kamkwamba went on to build three more windmills. William’s village had electricity, and this brought many benefits to the lives of the villagers.
Kamkwamba is one of four recipients of the 2010 GO Ingenuity Award, a prize awarded by the Santa Monica–based nonprofit GO Campaign to inventors, artists, and makers to promote the sharing of their innovations and skills with marginalized youth in developing nations. With the grant, Kamkwamba held workshops in his home village, teaching youths to make wind turbines and repair water pumps.
He is actively involved with the Moving Windmills Project, a nonprofit organization he co-founded, which focuses on sustainable development and education in rural Malawi. Currently, William is spearheading the development of the Moving Windmills Innovation Center in Kasungu. This center aims to provide young Malawians with the tools, mentorship, and space to develop practical solutions to everyday challenges, particularly in agriculture and renewable energy.
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