William Kamkwamba, author, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind," and Malawi Windmill Maker

Judging an architecture competition "Better Classroom Design"

 

On July 2, I'm joining 60 other jurors to judge submissions to Architecture for Humanity's Open Architecture Network 2009 Challenge. The theme is building a better classroom. 

This is really important to me as the photo below shows the classroom where I went to primary school. This classroom is still in use today exactly as you see. There is no power, Internet, or running water, and no lights, desks, chairs, windows, computers, and not enough books for each student to have her own. Kids sit on the floor whether it's the cold winter or the hot summer.

My dream is to rebuild Wimbe Primary school with new classrooms, wind and solar power, clean water, a kitchen to provide meals, a new library, a clinic and a community meeting room. It's a big dream and a long ways away but I'm starting to think about how to make this happen.

Watch the video about this contest

More about the challenge:

From June 5th to July 3rd more than 60 jurors will review all the entries to select the best of the best. Stay tuned for more information and announcements.

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Teachers and students know what makes a classroom work. We're inviting you to design the classroom of the future together.

According to the World Bank, educating all children worldwide will require the construction of 10 million new classrooms in more than 100 countries by 2015. At the same time, millions of existing classrooms are in serious need of repair and refurbishment.

Let's get started.

We are inviting you, teachers, students, architects and designers, to work together to design the classroom of the future for a school of your choosing. Your design should address the unique challenges your school faces in trying to provide smart, safe and sustainable learning spaces. Students and teachers, here's your chance to tell the world what you need to make your classroom more effective. Architects and designers, you'll work one-on-one with students to translate those needs into better classroom design.

• Share your design expertise and inspire school students to re-imagine their classroom
• Help students learn about the built environment using a companion design curriculum
• Become an advocate for better classroom design in your community

If your design wins, your school will receive up to $50,000 in funding for classroom construction and upgrading. You will receive a grant of $5,000 to help them do it.

Speaking at Global Nomads Group event at Aspen Ideas Festival

Next Friday I'm on a panel called Inspired to Action, moderated by an American professor and actor named Anna Deavere Smith. The Global Nomads Group is presenting the panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival, and it's sponsored by the Bezos Family Foundation. I'm attending the Aspen festival with my friend and co-author  Bryan Mealer. It will be the first time I've been to the mountains that are about 2 km up in the air and my first time to Colorado. Two of the other panelists, Darius Weems and Logan Smalley are also TED Fellows. 

BEZOS SCHOLARS PROGRAM SPONSORS 
GLOBAL NOMADS EVENT @ THE ASPEN IDEAS FESTIVAL 
Friday, July 3, 2009, 8 P.M., Hotel Jerome, Aspen, CO
Tickets $20; available in advance @ Wheeler Opera House
@ Door, as available

INSPIRED TO ACTION
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH TO MODERATE

June 26, 2009, Aspen, CO — What inspires a great idea? Necessity? Extraordinary circumstances? Passion? What makes one person find hope and courage in circumstances that cause so many others to despair? How does one young person spark life-enhancing change in a village, a country, the world?

On July 3, 2009, the INSPIRED TO ACTION event at Hotel Jerome in Aspen, CO, will offer a personal introduction to five remarkable individuals who have become leaders in their generation as they harness the wind in Africa, bring women’s rights to Afghanistan, battle the number one genetic killer of children and help improve the lives of orphaned children in Peru. Although their journeys and challenges are markedly different, they share many traits: determination, resilience, spirit and a great urgency for change.

For example, when William Kamkwamba was forced to quit school at age 14 because his family couldn’t afford the $80 fee, his future seemed limited, even by the standards of his farming village in Malawi. But not to be deterred, this born inventor used a library book about energy as his guide to create an electricity-producing windmill to power his family’s home.

It was a bit like tilting at windmills at first and he received little support. “They all thought that maybe I am going mad and maybe I’m going crazy. I didn’t receive much support on the first time,” Kamkwamba explains.

His prototype windmill, created from a broken bicycle, tractor fan blade, old shock absorber and blue gum trees, powered four light bulbs and two radios, and charged neighbors’ mobile phones. His second attempt—a 12-meter windmill to catch the wind above the trees—added a car battery for storage, homemade light switches and circuit breakers. He also experimented with a radio transmitter to broadcast popular music interspersed with HIV prevention messages. For more information, visit William’s Blog: www.williamkamkwamba.com

The Global Nomads Group event is part of the 2009 Aspen Ideas Festival roster of offerings that focus on 
IDEAS THAT WORK. Anna Deavere Smith acclaimed actor, playwright, teacher and author, will moderate the evening.

OTHER FEATURED PANELISTS INCLUDE

Ana Dodson, 17, hails from Cusco, Peru. She was adopted as a baby and has lived in Colorado since that time. At 11, she and her mother visited a girl’s orphanage in Peru. Saddened by the poverty she witnessed, Ana returned home and founded Peruvian Hearts to improve the quality of life for the girls at the orphanage. Peruvian Hearts now fully supports the girls at the orphanage and additionally provides breakfast, lunch and daily vitamins to over 500 children living in poverty in Peru. Ana is the Youth Ambassador for the Stop Child Poverty Campaign, a worldwide effort organized by the Global Volunteer Network Foundation. She spoke at Peace Jam and the United Nations in New York and has been recognized by the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, The Gloria Barron Young Heroes Award and the Do Something Award. Most recently, Ana was named a recipient of the 2009 Caring Institute Award. Ana plans to attend college and continue her work with Peruvian Hearts. For more information, visit www.peruvianhearts.org 

Darius Weems, 19, from Athens, Georgia, recently received a standing ovation from all 10,000 people attending the Clarke Central High School graduation held at the University of Georgia Coliseum. Darius is the star of the documentary, “Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life,” a multi-award-winning documentary that raises awareness of his disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the number one genetic killer of children. Darius lost his older brother, Mario, to DMD in 2000, when Mario was just 19. Darius is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Barron Prize, the Volvo for Life Award, the World of Children Award, and most recently, a Do Something Award. Darius and Logan Smalley attended the TED Conference in February of 2009 as inaugural Fellows and presented together on the main stage. He has appeared on Nightline, The Today Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote his film, and has spent the last year on the road with his crew, traveling the country in an effort to sell one million DVDs of his film. For every $20 DVD purchase, $17 goes to DMD research. He is currently working on a hip-hop CD to be released later this year. For more information, visit www.dariusgoeswest.org 

Logan Smalley, 26, grew up in Athens, Georgia. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Georgia in 2006 with a degree in Special Education and recently received his Master’s degree in Technology, Innovation, & Education at Harvard University. Logan has devoted the last four years almost exclusively to editing and promoting the multi-award winning documentary, “Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life.” This film captured 28 film festival awards worldwide in 2007. Logan is also president of Goslabi Productions, an educational media-consulting firm headquartered in Boston, which offers web design and video production services. Clients include Harvard University and Children’s Hospital of Boston. Logan won first prize in The Christophers’ 19th Annual Video Contest for College Students for a five-minute preview of “Darius Goes West,” and is the recipient of numerous community service awards for raising awareness of people with disabilities. For more information, visit www.dariusgoeswest.org 

Palwasha Zarifi, 26, hails from Kabul, and from a very early age has worked to improve the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan in the midst of tremendous challenges. At 16, she joined the Afghan Women’s Network. By 18, she was working with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). At 20, she founded the Skills Training and Rehabilitation Society (STARS) in Kabul, where she is currently the Managing Director. STARS operates in nine of Afghanistan’s provinces in the areas of agriculture, health, education, skills development and disaster management, and partners regularly with international humanitarian agencies. STARS also provides employment training and support to widows and their children in Kabul. In 2007, UNICEF selected Palwasha as a Young Champion for Girls Education. She sits on the Steering Committee of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR). She has traveled outside of Afghanistan numerous times to speak at international conferences and seminars about the plight of Afghan girls and women. Palwasha is currently a first-year student at Kateb University, studying political science. For more information, visit www.stars.org.af and www.acbar.org

The Bezos Scholars Program Sponsors
Global Nomads Group Event @ The Aspen Ideas Festival
INSPIRED TO ACTION
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH TO MODERATE

Join us for an evening with five visionaries of their generation. Sponsored by the Bezos Scholars Program, this Global Nomads Group event will explore the personal stories of extraordinary young leaders. Meet William, who at 14 harnessed the wind to power his village in Malawi. Meet Logan and Darius who are spreading the word—from a wheelchair that defines cool—about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the number one genetic killer of children in the U.S. Meet Ana, who at 11 founded Peruvian Hearts to provide a better life for child orphans in her native country. Meet Palwasha, who at 17 has courageously begun a women’s movement in Afghanistan. Learn what triggers innovation and leave inspired!

FRIDAY, JULY 3 
8 PM
HOTEL JEROME
Aspen, CO
Tickets, $20; available in advance
available in advance
@ Wheeler Opera House
@ Door, as available (the 2008 event sold out)

BACKGROUND

	BEZOS SCHOLARS PROGRAM @ THE ASPEN INSTITUTE  The Bezos Scholars Program @ the Aspen Institute, an inspired collaboration between the Bezos Family Foundation and the Aspen Institute, was founded in 2005. The program brings together 12 of the country’s top high school juniors and 12 of the most engaged educators, to meet one another and engage in seminars and informal meetings with the international leaders, acclaimed thinkers and creative artists who participate in the annual Aspen Ideas Festival. Following the Festival—a time of discovery and intellectual stimulation—the scholars return home and create local Ideas Festivals for their own schools and communities. The Bezos Family Foundation recently partnered with the World Science festival to create a second opportunity for stellar public high school students: the Bezos Scholars Program @ the World Science Festival.
	THE GLOBAL NOMADS GROUP Founded in 1998, the Global Nomads Group (GNG) is a non-profit organization dedicated to heightening children’s understanding and appreciation for the world and its people. Using interactive technologies such as videoconferencing, GNG brings young people together face-to-face to meet across cultural and national boundaries to discuss their differences and similarities, and the world issues that affect them.
	THE BEZOS FAMILY FOUNDATION The Bezos Family Foundation is a private, independent foundation established by Jackie and Mike Bezos, who along with their children and spouses, serve as directors. The foundation works to strengthen educational opportunities for everyone, regardless of economic circumstances, and cultivate learning as a life-long process that begins in early childhood.
	THE ASPEN INSTITUTE For more than 50 years, the Aspen Institute has been a foundation for global thought. This international nonprofit organization is dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Through seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives, the Institute and its international partners seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values. The Institute is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Its international network includes partner Aspen Institutes in Berlin, Rome, Lyon, Tokyo, New Delhi and Bucharest, and leadership programs in Africa, Central America and India.
	THE ASPEN IDEAS FESTIVAL In a ground-breaking outgrowth of its mandate to create opportunities for deep dialogue, the Aspen Institute created the Aspen Ideas Festival to engage a broader audience in a discussion of some of the significant ideas and issues that touch all parts of our society. Alongside its partner, The Atlantic, the Festival offers a stimulating and invigorating celebration of some of the liveliest minds on today’s world stage.

MEDIA CONTACT
Linda Shockley
Shockley@bezosfamilyfoundation.org
917-521-0711

Secondary school at African Leadership Academy is finished for the summer

 

I'm finished with African Leadership Academy school for the summer (at least the Northern summer as it's still winter in Johannesburg). Tomorrow I leave for New York City to see friends. I had a great year with my ALA friends from all over Africa, including my roommate Githiora. I'm on break until September 1st. I'll visit my family in July after attending two conferences and going to summer school.

My friend and former tutor Blessings Chikakula

When I went to ABCCA School last year, Blessings was my tutor in Malawian history and other subjects. He lives in the capital city of Lilongwe, Malawi with his wife and four children. As he was nearer to my age and one of the only Malawian teachers at the school, we became friends and he offered me good advice as I adjusted to life in the city of Lilongwe. When we had the grand opening of my current school, the African Leadership Academy, he came from Malawi to share it with me. When I needed help sorting out better schools and health care for members of my family, he made arrangements, even when I was at school. He helped me and Bryan on our book project. I am very grateful for his friendship and assistance. Here he is in a recent photo at my family's farm.

My parents visiting my grandmother in Salima, Malawi

Last week, my parents Trywell and Agnes Kamkwamba went with Blessings to visit my mom's mother, Grandma Rose Matiki, in her village near Salima, Malawi, about 3 hours away from my home. My grandfather passed away earlier this year while I was in school in Johannesburg. Grandma's home is very near to Lake Malawi, the third largest freshwater lake in Africa. Grandma lives in Salima with her daughters and son and their families. She is an amazingly strong woman with a great sense of humor who tells great stories. This past year has been very hard for her of course. My grandfather was a kind, gentle man who worked hard with Grandma Rose to provide for their extended family of 20 people.

 

(my dad is the tall guy with the Obama shirt, Mom is to his right, and Grandma Rose to her right in the black head scarf.)

Visitor's book

Even when I'm away at school, people come to see the windmill, my home, and my family. In Malawi, it's traditional for visitors to sign a guest book. We've had people from all over the world, and my parents are now used to these unexpected guests. Mom looks after the book.

Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder of Global Voices, on our forthcoming book

 "I was moved first to laughter, and then to tears by William's explanation of how he turned some PVC pipe, a broken bicycle and some long wooden poles into a machine capable of generating sufficient current to power lights and a radio in his parents' house. His ethos: "I try, and I made it." The story I thought knew - a young man whose natural engineering talent and willingness to try our ideas everyone thought was crazy - is little more than a coda to his remarkable story. Figuring out how to make it possible for remarkable invididuals, anywhere in the world, to reach their potential is one of the more difficult challenges of international development - this remarkable book makes it clear that it's one worth tackling. I urge you to read this book."

-Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder Global Voices.

Thank you very much, Ethan for your kind words!