tominaga
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In the late 2006, a Malawian newspaper
first wrote about a remarkable young man
from a remote rural village north of the capital city
This is his story
MOVING WINDMILLS
My name is William Kamkwamba
and I'm from Malawi
In the economy of Malawi,
most of the people depend on farming
we depend on tabacco
I'm 20 years old now
My village has got 60 families
and my family we are about 20
I was dropped out [of school]
because my parents had no money
to pay my school fees
and school fees are about $80
We have enough wind in Malawi
and I was thinking
'' What can I do to use that wind
so that we can have something?''
That's why I decided to read some books
about the windmills
The first time I saw a windmill in the book
it just come up with the pictures
But they didn't say anything about
what you can do to build windmill
so that you can generate electricity
or you can pump water
[You figured that out on your own]
Yeah, I figured out on my own
If this windmill is in this book,
if Ican try then maybe I make one
so that I can have electricity in my home
The time I decided to build the windmill,
I was 14 years old
And it take me about two mounths
to build the first windmill
They couldn't believe that
I would make something to generate electricity
What makes people to start
realizing that this thing is useful
when they realized that it could power a radio
[Was it music that on the radio?]
It was local Malawian reggae music
Most of the people,
they didn't know what I'm doing
They all thought that maybe I'm going mad
and that maybe I am crazy
I didn't receive much support on the first time,
but after I built a little windmill,
people started to realize
''Oh maybe this is a useful thing
Maybe we should help him''
I went to the library to return the books
and the librarian asked me
''Oh you have built a windmill
using the knowledge from this book?''
And I said, ''Yes''
''Oh Ok I will come to your home so that I can see''
And the guys came with some journalists
and write an article about the windmill
As a result of his efforts,
William was invited to visit the United States
for the first time in Decenber 2007
So, you have the machine that looks like this?
I took a tractor fan
When you see these enormous windmills,
what are your first expressions?
From the photograph and a textbook
William built a windmill
This is the story
that is... should be shouted from the rooftops
My dream is to finish my education
and in the future to start my own company
about the windmills
Most people they want technology,
but they can not use the internet technology
without electricity
That's what I'm planning to do
come up with the reliable electricity
That's what I'm plannning to do
Over the last nine months,
William has added a secound windmill,
solar pannels, bright lightning,and a deep water well
to his family compround
For the first time his family can work,
study and at night, and irrigate crops by day
In September 2008,
William will join the inaugural class of
the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg
The first pan-American preparatory school