Moving Windmills and Paying it Forward

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2009-09-29 01:27:00 UTC
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With a basic textbook about electricity and a photograph of a windmill, 14 year old Malawian William Kamkwamba built a windmill that powered lights, radio, and eventually irrigation for his family.

Before the windmill was built, many of the people in his village thought he was mad, digging around for scrap parts and spending all of his time tinkering. But when he began powering a radio with the windmill, his story spread far and wide, eventually making it to a newspaper and blogs.

One of the readers of that newspaper was African entrepreneur Emeka Okafor. It so happened that at the time, Okafor was planning the first TED conference to happen in Africa in Arusha, Tanzania.

On stage in Arusha, William received a standing ovation for his short, inspiring interview with TED curator Chris Anderson:

But that was just the beginning. Since that TED, William has been to the US to tell his story, and has started classes at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. What’s more, he’s been working with Okafor and TED Community Director Tom Rielly on a project called Moving Windmills. Moving Windmills is a short and full length documentary and a fund to support African-designed solutions for local problems:

This past summer, a more grown up and less shy William took the stage again at TEDGlobal, sharing a message of inspiration for people like him struggling to advance their dreams:

(Photo: Ted.com)

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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