The Boy who harnessed the wind

                 The Boy who harnessed the wind

                The film is a memoir of William Kamkwamba. It is based on a real story of a Malawi boy named William Kamkwamba who witnessed a terrible drought. The boy was creative and genius. He comes up with an innovation to solve the problems in Malawi. He builds a windmill to save his family and village from drought and famine. He was a curious-minded schoolboy who was fond of electronics and fixed broken radios, collected old batteries from the junkyard, and make experiments that led to experimenting on a larger scale to build the windmill. It has been said that extreme hopes are born from extreme misery so is the case with the boy. The entire village was in misery and people were losing hope sustainability is the extreme need of the time and the idea of sustainability came into the mind of William Kamkwamba. Dare to own your idea because an idea can save the lives of people.

             There were many problems in Malawi including poverty, hunger, environmental crisis, lack of education, diseases, famine, drought, etc. The people were living in miserable conditions and life become very hard to live. People were cutting down forests to earn money for a living but were unaware of the upcoming disaster it will cause. It led to a lack of rainfall. There was drought and crops didn’t grow due to a shortage of water. The government was corrupt and didn’t care for the problems of the people. The government did not any action to overcome the upcoming disaster. The corrupt government has sold off all the grain stores that would normally be used for relief.  Few upper class can afford the education and talented boys like William face financial barriers to acquiring education. The living conditions get worst over time and there began the fight for survival. People were willing to do anything for their survival. Human rights were violated. They stole the food. Everything seems to go wrong in William’s life. He has to drop out of school because his family can’t afford the fees, his family struggles to buy necessities like food, and his village in Malawi is facing famine. His family's grains were stolen so food was scarce. They have taken one meal a day. Circumstances get worst to such an extent that his sister left the home and in a letter, she wrote, “One less mouth to feed”. William’s pet dog died because of hunger. People were losing hope and survival seems impossible. William came up with a sustainable idea to solve the problems.

              William believes that scientific advancement can combat diseases and other hurdles. He faced financial problems at school. He was fond of studies. Darkness is the hurdle for his studies. He was creative and passionate about fixing problems.  One day he was stealing light from a bicycle he observe that the pedaling caused the light to glow. Here the idea of environmental sustainability originated in his mind what if he applied this idea to overcome the problem. He thought of building a windmill by applying the same mechanism he can generate electric power to drive the pump to get water so that water shortage can be overcome to grow crops. The implementation of the idea was not easy. There were obstacles on his way. There was no one to support his ideas, even his family was reluctant to support the idea. He didn’t give up on his idea despite the challenges. He strives hard to make his dream come true. He asked his teacher how the light of the bicycle works and get the response that it works on the dynamo, generating a magnetic field. He keeps a secret about Mr. Kachigunda who meets his sister secretly and in return gets access to the library. He found a book in the library, “Using energy”. Driven by desperation William starts searching in books for a solution until he comes across the picture of a windmill. His idea was environmentally sustainable because there are certain things that he keeps in mind such as his community being susceptible to climate change and food insecurity. Education becomes the most powerful solution to sustainable communities. Water stress is expected to be more severe and cause drought and famine. Technological solutions are key to solving environmental problems.it is crucial to develop new energy infrastructure with renewable sources. The windmill symbolizes environmental sustainability as it is built from recycled material. It represents the victory of human invention in the face of poverty and starvation. It improves the quality of life in underprivileged areas. It has saved many lives and it is environment friendly as it uses wind energy.

               Initially, he make an experiment on a small model to convince his father and friends that his idea works. He got the self-confidence that he can do anything. He needs the support of his friends and his father. His father discouraged him and called the model a toy and his thought a utopian idea. He told him to give up and start plowing on the farm. William's passion makes him willing to fight his father because he needs his father’s bicycle to build the windmill. He built a windmill out of bicycle parts, PVC pipe, Carlsberg bottle caps, and gum-tree poles. How he drilled holes through the PVC using a hot nail embedded in a corncob.

            He gets involved in the community and works to create awareness by educating children about sciences. His windmill is discovered and got publicity. He was invited to the TED conference. It was a huge success. He got funds for the environmental sustainability of his village. He travels to US and England where he observes wind farms that continue to inspire him. Supporters helped Kamkwamba return to school, and he is currently a student at Dartmouth College. Kamkwamba has told his story in the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope with co-author Bryan Mealer. Inspired by William Kamkwamba's story, the Moving Windmills Project was founded in 2008 to support rural economic development and education projects in Malawi.

             The story of William Kamkwamba is an inspiring and motivational story for all of us. It inspires us to follow our dream. If we remain determined and consistent then everything is possible. It reminds us of our social responsibility and that we play our part in the sustainability of our society. When there is a will, there is a way. Achieving something great is not easy because there are challenges and hurdles in your way to stop you. An idea can change alive. An idea can save humanity. We must contribute to the welfare of the community.