William Kamkwamba

Summer Session 1 volunteers spent their final full day in Malawi with William Kamkwamba, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. At age 14, William was forced to drop out of secondary school because his parents could no longer afford his school fees. Determined to keep up with his studies, William spent his free time in the library. After reading books on electricity, William built one windmill that generated electricity so he could study at night and another to irrigate his family's fields. A few weeks ago William graduated from secondary school in South Africa and is planning on attending Dartmouth this fall.

William was back in his home village, Wimbe in Kasungu District, for a ceremony at his primary school to hand over the keys to a brand new solar powered building. Volunteers arrived before the ceremony and got a firsthand tour of the school from William, as well as a detailed description of his plans to power the entire school with a single windmill. William was incredibly open to answering questions, telling stories, and taking pictures! Once the ceremony started, two of William's childhood friends, Gilbert and Geoffrey, took us to William's home where we met William's mother and siblings and got a demonstration of exactly how the windmills operate.

The second and third windmills William constructed generate power for his house and irrigate the family's crops.


Geoffrey showing how the windmill pulls a rope up and down to pump water out of the borehole.

The WC group with William's mom and best friends Gilbert and Geoffrey.