William Kamkwamba (born 5 August 1987 in Dowa, Malawi) is a Malawian inventor and author who set out to improve life for his family and for the people of Masitala, the rural village where he grew up.
As a teenager, he built a working windmill out of scrap materials to bring electricity to his family's home — a feat he later recounted in his 2009 memoir, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, co-written with Bryan Mealer. He went on to build windmills that pump clean drinking water and irrigate crops for his community.
One boy, a pile of scrap, and a library book on energy — proof of how far a single borrowed book can carry a reader.
Meet William & his windmill
In the inventor's own words, and the science behind the machine.
