I first came across William Kamkwamba’s story the same way I usually come across new interesting stories, through random Internet searches. I was teaching a unit on oral presentations and using a Tedtalk style approach. I was showing my students a variety of Tedtalks and discussing how the speakers were not giving traditional presentations, but rather sharing personal stories from their lives. I wanted to steer their talks away from traditional book report powerpoint presentations, and more towards personal narratives seeped in thematic ideas we were studying in novels. In short, I wanted then to connect big ideas to their own life experiences.

I was very excited when I found William’s talk. Not only did he tell an inspiring story, but also it was well told, short and relatable. He was only sixteen years old and his English was not great, which made it a perfect example for my non-English speakers, of which I had my fair share.

We watched the talk, discussed his story, evaluated his delivery and basically forgot about it. That is until the last day of school when my colleague gave me his book, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, as a going away present.

Fast forward a few weeks- I whipped through the book in two days and my mind has been a buzz with excitement ever since. William’s story can be summed up with one line:

If you want to make it, all you have to do is try.

However, we all know that life is never that simple. Life will often throw insurmountable obstacles our way, making our dreams difficult to achieve. What William teaches us through his story is that if we work with what we have and have a concrete goal in mind and slowly make our way toward it, nothing is impossible.

The book itself is well written with the help of Bryan Mealer. Together Bryan and William weave an awe inspiring tale about the power of love and family, over coming adversity, and hope. Through their prose we are forced to understand the pain and humiliation of starvation, redemption, and the tenacity of the human spirit.

William’s is the story of Africa and of the developing world. A world stigmatized by outsiders as a den of corruption and inefficiency, a backward place teeming with incompetence and crime. Made to play the victim by its own inhabitants, and pitied and feared by those living on the outside. For anyone who has ever lived in Africa or other parts of the “third world” the truth is that we have seen that most of our planet is stuck in a kind of limbo between what we call progress and history. There are many reasons why most of the world still lives on a dollar a day, has no running water or access to electricity. Without going into the political or theoretical reason behind global poverty, although he does touch on the influence of the IMF in developing counties, William paints a picture of not only what rural African looks like, but why it remains that way.

In short, William’s story is that of a boy from a small village in the heart of Africa. He tells us of his childhood growing up poor but happy. We follow his life through stories of magic and folklore and slowly begin to understand his world. William epitomizes the latest generation of young people growing up in the third world. Connected to a rich history and tradition, they are looking for a way forward while still staying true to the past.

I cannot recommend this book more wholeheartedly. This is a must read for everyone. Regardless of age, political beliefs, or world experience. The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind will change the way you view the world!

I hope that somehow I can get in touch with William, and hopefully arrange so that he can visit Daraja and share his story with the girls. I am excited to see that he is online and on Twitter. I am very much looking forward to hearing from you William. Your story has captured my imagination and I look forward to seeing how we can build a relationship. I hope you follow some links here and see what the girls of Daraja are doing. We can find ways to perhaps connect your stories.  I am also in the process of finding a way to get a few copies of this book to Daraja. I think it would make a great unit of study. I had goose bumps and tears in my eyes as I read the final paragraph:

Reminded me of a great quote by the great Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.  that says

If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl.” We must encourage those still struggling to keep moving forward. My fellow students and I talk about creating a new kind of Africa, a place of leaders instead of victims, a home of invention rather than charity. I hope this story finds its way to our brothers and sisters out there who are trying to elevate themselves and their communities, but who may feel discouraged by their poor situation. I want them to know they’re not alone. By working together, we can help remove this burden of bad luck fro their backs, just as I did, and use it to build a better future.