Welcome to my blog

My name is William Kamkwamba. I am 19 years old. I live in  Mastala Village in the area of T/A Wimbe in the Kasungu district of Malawi, about 2 1/2 hours north of Lilongwe, Malawi's capital city. Over the next few weeks, I will try to communicate the journey I have taken over the last several years.

One note: My native language is Chichewa, the indigenous language of Malawi. The country's official language is English, and my English comprehension is good. I can speak pretty well, too, and write, but I'm a bit out of practice, so a friend of mine is helping with the writing and editing of this blog.

At home I live with my family, parents Agnes and Trywell Kamkwamba and four of my six sisters. I'm second among the seven children: my older sister is married and has two children and lives away from our home. My next younger sister is away part of the year at school.

After my primary education, I was accepted at and began secondary education in Malawi. I began first form (equivalent to a high school freshman in America) and took two trimesters out of three. After the second trimester, I was forced to drop out of school because my family and I did not have enough money to pay the school fees. 

I was out of school for five years.

Our family is poor like many families in Malawi and Africa, and as a result, we have no electricity in our village or my home. For many years we had only paraffin candles to light my home at night. They are expensive, smoky, smelly and have to be purchased about 8 km from home.

During that time I decided to try to get as much education as possible by reading as many books as I could find. An organization called the Malawian Teacher Training Activity (MTTA), a project of USAID contributed a large quantity of books to the primary school library near my home. I read many of them.  One of the books I read was called Using Energy, a primary school textbook about how energy is made. Inside the book there were plans for a windmill. I decided to build a windmill to provide power for my family.

My problem was that I didn't have much money to buy parts to construct the windmill. Over time, I found materials that had been discarded by other farmers or by the nearby tobacco plantations, and I bought a few parts with money I scraped together:

500 Kwacha (Malawian currency) or $2.75 (US $1=145 Kwacha) for two bearings.

500 Kwacha for a bicycle dynamo (the kind that powers a bike's light when you ride the bike.)

400 Kwacha for a fan belt

800 Kwacha for a bicycle frame

I built my first windmill when I was 15. Over the next few years I kept refining the design.  I made many modifications to the plans i found in the book. For example, I increased the blades from three to four to provide more power output. 

The windmill now powers lights for 3 rooms and a light over our porch outside. I also use it to power my family's two radios. I also can charge mobile phones that the neighbors have.

In November of 2006, the deputy director of the MTTA, Dr. Hartford Mchazime found out about me while visiting the library where his organization had sent the books. He  asked to visit me at my home to see the windmill. He asked me many questions about how I had built it. I will explain in detail in my next message.

Dr. Mchazime brought several journalists to see the windmill, among them Sangwani Mwafulirwa, reporter for The Daily Times, one of Malawi's largest newspapers.

As a result of the publicity, Dr. Mchazime was able to raise enough money to send me back to secondary school. I've been enrolled for a trimester at a boarding school about an hour from my home on the way to Lilongwe.

Unbeknownst to me until about two weeks ago, Soyapi Mumba, a software engineer based in Lilongwe brought the article to the attention of Mike McKay, his colleague who writes a blog called Hactivate, and Mike posted on his blog about the story in the newspaper. I found out recently that several other people also wrote about my story on their blogs, too.

Two weeks ago I used a computer for the first time. I learned about Google and searched for "windmill" and "solar energy." I was amazed to learn how many entries there were for both subjects. My friends showed me how to create an email address and now I am on Gmail. Now I am practicing sending and receiving emails when I have access to a computer.

I don't have regular access to a computer yet, but I'm working on a way to get online more easily. You can write me at williamkamkwamba at g mail dot com.

Comments

[Russ]

Congratulations William on your accomplishments and re-enrollment in school. I first learned about you on www.afrigadget.com and then saw my son's photos of you at TED Global (www.whiteafrican.com). Your ingenuity and innovation remind me of my many friends in East Africa.

[Mentalacrobatics]

Welcome William to the African blogosphere! It was brilliant meeting you at TED Global. Let us build Africa up, one windwill at a time.

[William Kamkwamba]

Dear Russ and Mental Acrobatics, Thank you for your kind words.

William.

[AfroMusing]

Hello William,
Just wanted to welcome you to the blogosphere...it was an honor to meet you in Arusha, (I hope you dont mind that i took all those photos of you :)) I hope you enjoy blogging and lets continue with the renewable energy reporting!

[Shemsu Andeta]

What an accomplishment.... Brother
I admire you .. I envy you... I'm very very very happy about your father who bring a real man to his family

we the children of africa...
Specially those who took education and got the previlage of going to higher education...
We are a lost boy to our family...
Usless creature to mother africa...

Dear brother

May Alah giveth you all the strength and the success

[Swoosh]

moni William - muli bwanji?

I am so happy to see you and your story from malawi, the warm heart of africa.

I lived in Limbe and blantyre before moving to kenya for schooling, and am now in the U.S.

I hope you are well, and are able to stay in touch!

[Tonami]

Congratulations William on your accomplishments. Storys like this is what drives the rest of us to push further.

You exemplify the true meaning of education. You made do with the little you had and in turn impacted the imaginations of many. All students of africa can learn from this. Its the kind of spark africa needs.

Good luck on school and future progress.

[Simon Mwacharo]

Hallo William, Its great to see your blogg at last I am able to raed more about what you are doing since we met in Arusha. Thats a great tower boy and I am glad Peter gave you that motor I can imagine what you feel. Hey there is a guy coming from Nairobito see you after TED. Lets get those blades looking good. Keep it up friend

[Alex McKee]

Well done William and keep up the good work.

Best regards from England,

Alex

[clutterbells]

Very inspiring William. We have a lot of windmills here in very dry South Australia. They are often used to power pumps for irrigation. Your windmill is a testament to ingenuity and inspiration.

[Mr.X]

Very good job, that man.
Impressed!

[medea]

Congratulations William! I´ve heard about you all the way in Colombia, so you are definitely doing many things right! It is very inspiring to read about your gift of electricity to your family, they are very lucky to have you!

[Clement Nyirenda]

Welcome to the blogosphere, William.Congratulations on your achievement.This is the beginning of great things in your life!

[Pig in the kitchen]

William, your story is amazing. I read about you on Brom's blog. I really admire your determination, fantastic...
Pigx

[Melanie van de Velde]

Wow William, how impressive!! A colleague of mine (in Scotland) pointed me to your blog. You can be incredibly proud of yourself! I'm sure you will go very far in life, all the best of luck!

Melanie

[joan]

Hi William,
Despite your youth, you have the energy and enthousiasm to overcome every obstacles and reach your purposes! Don't give up on education and on your dreams, you are a real hero!

Good Luck

[Benin Mwangi]

Mr. Kamkwamba:

Reading about you and then reading the your words in this post brought tears of joy to my eyes. You are truly inspiring. Though I did not make it to TED or Arusha, I am so happy that you were able to share your story with the people there, who in turn told your story to me and thats how I learned about you.

When I lived in Ghana during the time of troubles in Libera, there was someone that I met who was a genius like you-a young fellow-a physicist who built a laser out of spare parts during the height of the Charles Taylor reign and I met him when he came to be further guided by my father at the a university in Ghana. Although there are many from Ghana and other parts of West Africa who went to schools in Europe and attained there Ph.D's there, this young man actually became the first person (Liberian or Ghanain) to attain a Ph.D in physics within the Ghana educational system. He made so many people proud.

I could imagine that the same excitement that Liberia had for it's son back in the 90's Malawi must have for you. And even many here in the States want to see you continue to do grea things-also congratulations on going back to school!

William,

Ndikamati Afrika aphukira, ndi a chinyamata a nzeru zakuya ngati inuyo amene mutatsogolere mphukira umenewu. Congratulations!! I'm very proud of you, and very excited to learn that Dr. Mchazime is your mentor. He is also my mentor! Keep it up!

[Beckett]

We are all better for your efforts, imagination, and spirit. And I appreciate deeply how you have honored your family in the process of innovation.

Cheers from the U.S.
Christian

[Angel Kafazov]

Hello William,

thank you for sharing your story with the world. Your work is truly inspiring and amazing.

I can just commend you for living your passion and following your dream.

[Steve Kambeja]

Congratulations William for the invention. I first read the article concerning you in the Daily Times when i was home and at first i thought it was just a joke but am glad that the likes of Dr Mchazime saw the ,potential and made arrangements that you should go back to school.Work hard and aim big!Regards from Cambridge,England.

[Kamudoni Nyasulu]

My former school's motto is

LUCEAT LUX VESTRA!!!

I can think of no better words to express my commendation on your ingenuity

[odegle]

Kamkwamba,
you are a great inspiration. you saw and you did. you are a great proof that we are our greatest obstacles. Keep up the good work!

[Edwin Mulenga]

Willie, looking at your age and background, your potential is just amazing. Thanks that you are able to go to school!

We are all proud of you!!

[Boolean]

Thats what I call Section 56. The opposite face of section 65. Building Malawi. Yebo William, Keep it burning!