6/7/10

The Boy who Harnessed the Wind

The boy who harnessed the windImage by KizzieFK via Flickr
By William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealy

I've finally picked up AND finished reading a book after a 4 month hiatus! o.O

Normally I don't do non-fiction but after a short pep talk from my aunt "you're grown up already, you should be reading more stories of how famous people became famous" so here's my 1st successful attempt at it (I bought a biography on Hitler but the facts sort of made my head go dizzy)

Synopsis:
A true story of a Malawian, William Kamkwamba fulfilling his dreams of building a windmill aka "electric wind", and changing the ways of his society for the better.

William, as like any other Malawian, comes from a family that relies on farming for a living. In an event of a drought or the government misuses people's money (As he says, "Our president is a funny person."), they are plagued with starvation, some even resorting to selling off children while unscrupulous merchants sell grain mixed with sawdust.

Despite not being able to further his secondary education (due to poverty, of course), he has resolved not to be a farmer for the rest of his life. He did not want his fate to rest on the weather alone. Having a keen eye for machinery and an insatiable curiosity, he spends his free time visiting the school library and reading books like Explaining Physics. His command of English was not well at that time, so he depended mainly on graphs and figures to understand how things worked. With years of effort and an undying passion to improve his family's lifestyle, he managed to build a windmill, simply out of scrap metal and discarded pieces of junk!

Being free of impressive vocabulary and flowery figures of speech, the stark truth of the poverty and trials in Malawi is enough to invoke wonder, curiosity and, most of the time, fear.

Afterthought:
Thumbs up to this inspiring true story! Really made me feel that I should try and make a difference in the world =)

Personal rating: 4.9/5.0
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