Our friend Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing posted an incredible review of our book on both the Boing Boing and Good sites. Thanks, Mark.
Archive for September, 2009
Great Press Coverage Today: Boing Boing and Good
New York City: The tour kicks off for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
We celebrated the release of our book and kicked off the tour tonight at Barnes & Noble in Manhattan, an event co-sponsored by our friends at Amnesty International. Many folks came out to see our slide show and hear William tell his incredible story of beating back hunger and poverty with science, persistence, and grit. Here are a few photos, including one taken with our pal and supporter Gaby Lapus.
Our Good Morning America segment is now live.
Monday, September 28th, 2009 | Posted in News | No Comments »
Come see us at Barnes & Noble Tuesday night in New York
William and I will be doing a slide show presentation and Q&A at the Barnes & Noble in Tribeca in Manhattan. Tuesday, September 29 @ 7:00 pm. 97 Warren St.
We hope to see you there!
Windmill Bill and Bryan on GMA
William and I are scheduled to be guests on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday morning between 8:00 – 9:00 am EST.
Please check it out!
Erik Hersman from Afrigadget and White African Reviews Our Book
William Kamkwamba: Harnessing the Wind
by HASH on September 25, 2009
“A rare and inspiring story of hope in rural Africa, a true story of youth challenging and winning against all of the adversity that life throws at it. William represents a new generation of Africans, using ingenuity and invention to overcome life’s challenges. Where so many tilt at windmills, William builds them!”
Three years ago I came across a fascinating story of a young man in Malawi who had built a windmill from scratch, and I wrote about it on AfriGadget. Since then, I’ve gotten to know William Kamkwamba as TED Africa fellows and most recently we spent a good deal of time together in Ghana at Maker Faire Africa.
There is now a book, a documentary and a foundation all set up around the inspired story of windmills from Malawi.
Fortunately, I was given a pre-release version of the “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” to review, and as it comes out in just 4 days it’s about time that I did that. It should also be noted that Bryan Mealer, who wrote the book with William, is an incredibly talented writer that knows his way around Africa and has a knack for getting the nuances of African life across in a way few others do.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
I found the most fascinating part of this book to be William’s description of living through a famine. Imagine only one meal a day, and only a few bites at that. William’s family felt like they were the lucky ones because they at least had something to eat. I’ve seen pictures of people starving, but to have it described so frankly made it so much more real.
Because of this famine, William wasn’t able to go to school. His desire to still learn was what led to his reading books from the local library. It was there that he discovered the books “Using Energy,” “Explaining physics” and “integrated science.” Ironically, he discovered “using energy” (the book that inspired his famous windmill) while looking for the dictionary to look up “grapes.” On the front of “using energy” was a row of windmills, and William was reminded of the pinwheels that he and his friends made as a child out of cut up water bottles. He spent days looking through old parts at a junk yard, trying to find the right parts to build his own windmill.
As a young boy, William and his friends would often take radios apart and put them back together, cannabilizing some of them to fix others that were broken. A prototypical AfriGadget inventor, William was an expert at creative thinking and improvising, using a bicycle dynamo to power his first windmill.
Final Thoughts
What I appreciate the most about William is, despite all the notoriety that has come with his inventions, he remains humble, easy to talk to, loyal to his family and home, and full of desire to learn. You see this come through in his interviews, even with all of the success he has had, he is still a well-grounded individual.
A final bit of trivia: William’s windmill came very close to being the final logo for Maker Faire Africa this year, here’s the prototype of that. It’s great to see how he has influenced my work with AfriGadget over the intervening years. Many times he is on the stage at big western-focused events, however last month in Ghana he stood in front of his peers at Maker Faire Africa. The room of 300-400 fellow African inventors was enthralled… After all, how much more exciting is it to see home-grown ingenuity and innovation making it big than it is if it’s imported in from overseas?
Okay, go buy the book! 
Advance Praise for “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”
“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” is the inspiring story of a young man in Africa who used the only resources available to him to build a windmill and elevate the lives and spirits of those in his community. William Kamkwamba’s achievements with wind energy should serve as a model of what one person, with an inspired idea, can do to tackle the crisis we face. His book tells a moving and exciting story.”
— Al Gore, former Vice President and Nobel Laureate
“This is an amazing, inspiring, and heartwarming story! It’s about harnessing the power not just of the wind but of imagination and ingenuity. Those are the most important forces we have for saving the planet. William Kamkwamba is a hero for our age.”
— Walter Isaacson, author, Einstein: His Life and Universe
“I first met William on stage at TED. At the time his English was faltering and he was understandably nervous. It didn’t matter. His story, told in just a couple of minutes, was both astonishing and exhilarating. This book proves what those few minutes hinted at: a remarkable individual capable of inspiring many to take their future into their own hands.”
—Chris Anderson, TED Curator
“In this book, the spirit, resilience and resourcefulness that are Africa’s greatest strengths shine through. My heart was gripped by the tale of how William’s family pulled through the famine, and it was lifted up by the tale of how his determination brought light to his home and hope to his village. THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND is a remarkable story about a remarkable young man and his inquisitive and inventive mind.”
—Amy Smith, Founder, D Lab, MIT
“William Kamkwamba is an alchemist who turned misfortune into opportunity, opportunity beyond his own. The book is about learning by inventing. William’s genius was to be ingenious.”
—Nicholas Negroponte, Founder, MIT Media Lab, Founder and Chairman, One Laptop per Child
“This book traveled with me from Copenhagen to San Francisco to the South Fork of the Flathead and tells the story of how the battle for saving our planet and meeting the needs of humanity will be won by individuals like William Kamkwamba. His determination to improve his corner of the world is a testament to the power of a dream and the freedom that comes from accomplishing a sustainable way of life. Read this book, act on its message and pass it on.”
—Carter Roberts, President & CEO, WWF
“William will challenge everything you have thought about Africa, about young people, and about the power of one person to transform a community. This beautifully written book will open your heart and mind. I was moved by William and his story and believe you all will. Essential, powerful and compelling.”
—Chris Abani, author of GraceLand
“I loved this enchanting story of a humble young hero from an impoverished African village who accomplishes a miracle with scrap materials and unstoppable enthusiasm. What an inspiration!”
— Mark Frauenfelder, founder of boingboing.net and editor-in-chief of MAKE
“A powerful read. This book takes you on a journey to discover pure innovation and the unfolding story of a natural genius. A true vision of struggle and tenacity to make a bold idea become a reality. This should be required reading for anyone who dares to dream.”
—Cameron Sinclair, Eternal Optimist, Architecture for Humanity
“This book is an inspiring testament to the ingenuity of Africans. If we can develop more innovative leaders like William, Africa will finally stand on its own two feet.”
—Fred Swaniker, Founder & CEO, African Leadership Academy
“This book is inspirational. What William did took nothing more than initiative and a little learning, yet he changed his village and his life. There’s never been a better time to Do It Yourself, and I love how much we can learn from those who often have no other choice.”
—Chris Anderson, author, Free: The Future of a Radical Price and editor-in-chief of WIRED
“Wonderful! I challenge you to read this story of one young man changing his corner of the world with nothing but intelligence and perservance and not come away more hopeful about the prospects for a brighter, greener future.”
—Alex Steffen, editor,Worldchanging.com
“Much more than a memoir, this is a snapshot of life as a precocious teenager in contemporary Africa, and an affirmation of the notion that talent, beauty, and brilliance are distributed in equal measure around the world, even if opportunity is not. This is a story that hums with the excitement of an individual who, like the continent where he was raised is poised for greatness.”
—Nathaniel Whittemore, Change.org
“Beyond opening the door to a nascent genre of African Innovation literature, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind makes excuses about why Africans can’t change their fates untenable. This potent, powerful, and uplifting message is the heart of Williams Kamkwamba’s courageous story.”
—Emeka Okafor, internationally acclaimed blog author, The Timbuktu Chronicles and Africa Unchained
“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: “I try, and I made it.””
—Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder Global Voices
“A rare and inspiring story of hope in rural Africa, a true story of youth challenging and winning against all of the adversity that life throws at it. William represents a new generation of Africans, using ingenuity and invention to overcome life’s challenges. Where so many tilt at windmills, William builds them!”
—Erik Hersman, AfriGadget
“An inspiring tale of an African Cheetah — the new generation of young Africans who won’t sit and wait for corrupt and incompetent governments — or vampire states — to come and do things for them. Here is one who harnessed the wind to generate electricity for his village — on his own.”
—Professor George Ayittey, Distinguished Economist, American University
William Returns to TED
Two years ago, William stood on the stage at TED in Tanzania and gave us a small glimpse into his heartbreaking, yet remarkable journey. At that moment, he’d never slept in a hotel, never seen the Internet, and his English was shaky and scattered. He now returns with a powerful and moving presentation, a testament to how far he’s come in such a short time. It makes me proud.
“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” is named one of Amazon’s Best Books of September
Best of September: “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”
by Dave Callanan on September 10, 2009
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Due to a stereotypical Irish temperament, I get very fired up about the books I love. I’ve been known to corner colleagues with excited rants that are immune to exaggerated watch-checks and loud sighs. Such behavior is, of course, highly annoying and causes many on our floor to stare at their feet when our paths cross at the coffee maker.Thanks to The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, life has been even rougher lately for those unlucky to work on my floor. Few books have moved me this much, as the story of William Kamkwamba is nothing short of remarkable. Growing up amid poverty and famine in rural Malawi, young William saw opportunity in the gusts of wind what swept through his homeland. Armed only with a dream and ferocious determination, the fourteen-year-old embarked on a journey to build a device that could produce magetsi a mphepo: “electric wind.” With electricity, he believed, his family could finally break free from the chains of darkness and hunger. Too poor to afford schooling or proper materials, he put his plan into action with the help of scavenged engine parts, borrowed textbooks, and the unwavering support of his father.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a powerful example that one person can still make a difference. Fortunately for you, I can’t corner readers in the blogosphere, but can strongly recommend that anyone looking for an inspiring read this fall pick up a copy of this amazing memoir. Readers will be excused if a Google search is required to prove this is no work of fiction (sheepish disclaimer: I myself visited williamkamkwamba.com after Chapter 4 to quiet any doubts), as the words of William Kamkwamba will stay with you long after the final page has been read.
–Dave
