Book Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

So begins William Kamkwamba in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the memoir of his success in building a windmill from scraps and spare parts in order to generate electricity for his community, coauthored by Bryan Mealer.

Kamkwamba may begin his story with magic, with the stories passed down from generation to generation of witchdoctors and wizards and men who rose from the dead, but it wasn't magic that turned William Kamkwamba's fortune. It was a drought and famine, very real and torturous. And it wasn't magic that made William Kamkwamba a success. It was ingenuity and a drive to help his family and village.

Because of the famine, the Kamkwamba family were not able to grow their usual crops of maize and tobacco. William's family, along with the rest of the country, were destitute and starving. William's father was unable to pay the tuition for his son's education, and William had to drop out of school. Disappointed but undeterred, William began to study science, machinery, and electricity in library books.

What strikes the reader of William Kamkwamba's story is this young man's quiet determination. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind has been compared to Greg Mortensen's Three Cups of Tea and yet, though Mortensen's charity and tireless work is highly admirable, it is arguably Kamkwamba's understated and steadfast effort that is even more astounding. He had so little help, so few supporters. Here is a boy who, when faced with poverty and famine, lived on less than one handful of cornmeal a day. When forced to drop out of school, he taught himself basic physics and how to build a simple motor from out of date library books. When his neighbors laughed at his efforts to build a windmill, William Kamkwamba built it anyway and when he succeeded, worked even harder to share his success with the whole community.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Windisn't the end of William Kamkwamba's story. He is now a student at African Leadership Academy, and readers can keep up with his latest projects at http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/.

Buy The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind at:
Powells.com
Amazon.com
BarnesandNoble.com