The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind\ Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope \ \ By William Kamkamba, Bryan Mealer \ William Morrow Paperbacks\ Copyright © 2010 William Kamkamba, Bryan Mealer\ All right reserved.\ ISBN: 9780061730337 \ \ \ Chapter One\ Before I discovered the miracles of science, magic \ ruled the world.\ Magic and its many mysteries were a presence that \ hovered about constantly, giving me my earliest memory as a \ boy—the time my father saved me from certain death and \ became the hero he is today.\ I was six years old, playing in the road, when a group of herd \ boys approached, singing and dancing. This was in Masitala village \ near the city of Kasungu, where my family lived on a farm. The \ herd boys worked for a nearby farmer who kept many cows. They \ explained how they'd been tending their herd that morning and \ discovered a giant sack in the road. When they opened it up, they found \ it filled with bubble gum. Can you imagine such a treasure? I can't \ tell you how much I loved bubble gum.\ "Should we give some to this boy?" one asked.\ I didn't move or breathe. There were dead leaves in my hair.\ "Eh, why not?" said another. "Just look at him."\ One of the boys reached into the bag and pulled out a handful \ of gumballs, one for every color, and dropped them into my hands. I \ stuffed them all in my mouth. As the boys left, I felt the sweet juice \ roll down my chin and soak my shirt.\ The following day, I was playing under the mango tree when a \ trader on a bicycle stopped to chat with my father. He said that while \ on his way to the market the previous morning, he'd dropped one of \ his bags. By the time he'd realized what had happened and circled \ back, someone had taken it. The bag was filled with bubble gum, he \ said. Some fellow traders had told him about the herd boys passing \ out gum in the villages, and this made him very angry. For two days \ he'd been riding his bicycle throughout the district looking for the \ boys. He then issued a chilling threat.\ "I've gone to see the sing'anga, and whoever ate that gum will soon \ be sorry."\ The sing'anga was the witch doctor.\ I'd swallowed the gum long before. Now the sweet, lingering \ memory of it soured into poison on my tongue. I began to sweat; my heart \ was beating fast. Without anyone seeing, I ran into the blue gum grove \ behind my house, leaned against a tree, and tried to make myself clean. \ I spit and hocked, shoved my finger into my throat, anything to rid my \ body of the curse. I came up dry. A bit of saliva colored the leaves at my \ feet, so I covered them with dirt.\ But then, as if a dark cloud had passed over the sun, I felt the \ great eye of the wizard watching me through the trees. I'd eaten his \ juju and now his darkness owned me. That night, the witches would \ come for me in my bed. They'd take me aboard their planes and force \ me to fight, leaving me for dead along the magic battlefields. And as \ my soul drifted alone and forsaken above the clouds, my body would \ be cold by morning. A fear of death swept over me like a fever.\ I began crying so hard I couldn't move my legs. The tears \ ran hot down my face, and as they did, the smell of poison filled \ my nose. It was everywhere inside me. I fl ed the forest as fast as \ possible , trying to get away from the giant magic eye. I ran all the \ way home to where my father sat against the house, plucking a pile \ of maize. I wanted to throw my body under his, so he could protect \ me from the devil.\ "It was me," I said, the tears drowning my words. "I ate the \ stolen gum. I don't want to die, Papa. Don't let them take me!"\ My father looked at me for a second, then shook his head.\ "It was you, eh?" he said, then kind of smiled.\ Didn't he realize I was done for?\ "Well," he said, and rose from the chair. His knees popped whenever\ he stood. My father was a big man. "Don't worry. I'll find this \ trader and explain. I'm sure we can work out something."\ That afternoon, my \ father walked eight kilometers\ to a place called \ Masaka where the trader \ lived. He told the man \ what had happened, \ about the herd boys coming\ by and giving me the \ stolen gum. Then without\ question, my father \ paid the man for his \ entire bag, which amounted \ to a full week's pay.\ That evening after \ supper, my life having \ been saved, I asked my \ father about the curse, \ and if he'd truly \ believed I was finished. He \ straightened his face and \ became very serious.\ "Oh yes, we were just in time," he said, then started laughing in \ that way that made me so happy, his big chest heaving and causing \ the wooden chair to squeal. "William, who knows what was in store \ for you?"\ Me as a young boy standing with my father in Masitala \ village. To me, he was the biggest and strongest man in \ the world. \ \ \ My father was strong and feared no magic, but he knew all the \ stories. On nights when there was no moon, we'd light a lamp and \ gather in our living room. My sisters and I would sit at my father's \ feet, and he'd explain the ways of the world, how magic had been \ with us from the beginning. In a land of poor farmers, there were too \ many troubles for God and man alone. To compensate for this \ imbalance, he said, magic existed as a third and powerful force. Magic \ wasn't something you could see, like a tree, or a woman carrying \ water. Instead, it was a force invisible and strong like the wind, or a \ spider's web spun across the trail. Magic existed in story, and one of \ our favorites was of Chief Mwase and the Battle of Kasungu.\ In the early nineteenth century, and even today, the Chewa \ people were the rulers of the central plains. We'd fl ed there many \ generations before from the highlands of southern Congo during a \ time of great war and sickness, and settled where the soil was reddish \ black and fertile as the days were long.\ During this time, just northwest of our village, a ferocious black \ rhino began wreaking terror across the land. He was bigger than a \ three-ton lorry, with horns the length of my father's arms and points as \ sharp as daggers. Back then, the villagers and animals shared the same \ watering hole, and the rhino would submerge himself in the shallows \ and wait. Those visiting the spring were mostly women and young girls \ like my mother and sisters. As they dipped their pails into the water, \ the rhino would attack, stabbing and stomping them with its mighty \ hooves, until there was nothing left but bloody rags. Over a period of \ months, the feared black rhino had killed over a hundred people.\ One afternoon, a young girl from the royal Chewa family was \ stomped to death at the spring. When the chief heard about this, he \ became very angry and decided to act. He gathered his elders and \ warriors to make a plan.\ "This thing is a real menace," the chief said. "How can we get \ rid of it?"\ There were many ideas, but none seemed to impress the chief. \ Finally one of his assistants stood up.\ "I know this man in Lilongwe," he said. "He's not a chief, but he \ owns one of the azungu's guns, and he's very good at magic. I'm certain \ his magical calculations are strong enough to defeat this black rhino."\ This man was Mwase Chiphaudzu, whose magic was so superior \ he was renowned across the kingdom. Mwase was a magic hunter. \ His very name meant "killer grass" because he was able to disguise himself as \ a cluster of reeds in the fields, allowing him to ambush his prey. The chief's \ people traveled a hundred kilometers to Lilongwe and \ summoned Mwase, who agreed to assist his brothers in Kasungu .\ One morning, Mwase arrived at the watering hole well before the \ sun. He stood in the tall grass near the shores and sprinkled magic \ water over his body and rifle. Both of them vanished, becoming only \ music in the breeze. Minutes later, the black rhino thundered over \ the hill and made his way toward the spring. As he plunged his heavy \ body into the shallows, Mwase crept behind him and put a bullet \ into his skull. The rhino crumpled dead.\ The celebrations began immediately. For three days, villagers \ from across the district feasted on the meat of the terrible beast that \ had taken so many lives. During the height of the festivities, the chief \ took Mwase to the top of the highest hill and looked down where the \ Chewa ruled. This hill was Mwala wa Nyenje, meaning "The Rock \ of the Edible Flies," named after the cliffs at its summit and the fat \ delicious flies that lived in its trees.\ Standing atop the Rock of the Edible Flies, the chief pointed \ down to a giant swath of green earth and turned to Mwase.\ "Because you killed that horrible and most feared beast, I have a \ prize for you," he said. "I hereby grant you power over this side of the \ mountain and all that's visible from its peak. Go get your people and \ make this your home. This is now your rule."\ So Mwase returned to Lilongwe and got his family, and before \ long, he'd established a thriving empire. His farmland produced \ abundant maize and vegetables that fed the entire region. His people \ were strong, and his warriors were powerful and feared.\ But around this time, a great chaos erupted in the Zulu kingdom\ of South Africa. The army of the Zulu king, Shaka, began a \ bloody campaign to conquer the land surrounding his kingdom, and \ this path of terror and destruction caused millions to flee. One such \ group was the Ngoni.\ The Ngoni people marched north for many months and finally \ stopped in Chewa territory, where the soil was moist and fertile. \ But because they were constantly on the move, hunger visited them \ often. When this happened, they would travel farther north and ask \ for help from Chief Mwase, who always assisted them with maize \ and goats. One day, after accepting another of Mwase's handouts, \ the Ngoni chiefs sat down and said, "How can we always have this \ kind of food?"\ Someone replied, "Eliminate the Chewa."\ The Ngoni were led by Chief Nawambe, whose plan was to \ capture the Rock of the Edible Flies and all the land visible from \ its peak. However, the Ngoni did not know how magical Chief \ Mwase was.\ One morning, the Ngoni came up the mountain dressed in \ animal skins, holding massive shields in one hand and spears \ in the other. But of course, Chief Mwase's warriors had spotted \ them from miles away. By the time the Ngoni reached the hill, \ the Chewa warriors had disguised themselves as green grass and \ slayed the intruders with knives and spears. The last man to die \ was Chief Nawambe. For this reason, the mountain was changed \ from the Rock of the Edible Flies to Nguru ya Nawambe, which \ means simply "The Deadly Defeat of Nawambe." This same hill \ now casts a long shadow over the city of Kasungu, just near my \ village.\ These stories had been passed down from generation to \ generation, with my father having learned them from my grandpa. My \ father's father was so old he couldn't remember when he was born. His \ skin was so dry and wrinkled, his feet looked like they were chiseled from \ stone. His overcoat and trousers seemed older than he was, the way they \ were patched and hung on his body like the bark of an ancient tree. He rolled \ fat cigars from maize husks and field tobacco, and his eyes were red from \ kachaso, a maize liquor so strong it left weaker men blind. \ Grandpa visited us once or twice a month. Whenever he emerged \ from the edge of the trees in his long coat and hat, a trail of smoke rising \ from his lips, it was as if the forest itself had taken legs and walked. \ The stories Grandpa told were from a different time and place. \ When he was young—before the government maize and tobacco \ estates arrived and cleared most of our trees—the forests were so \ dense a traveler could lose his sense of time and direction in them. \ Here the invisible world hovered closer to the ground, mixing with \ the darkness in the groves. The forest was home to many wild beasts, \ such as antelope, elephant, and wildebeest, as well as hyenas, lions, \ and leopards, adding even more to the danger. \ (Continues...)\ \ \ \ \ Excerpted from The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkamba, Bryan Mealer Copyright © 2010 by William Kamkamba, Bryan Mealer. Excerpted by permission of William Morrow Paperbacks. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.\ Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. \ \

\ From Barnes & NobleWilliam Kamkwamba, the youthful author of this book, was born in Malawi, an African nation best known for its harrowing poverty, its AIDS epidemic, and its long-term food crisis. In 2001, William was just 14 years old when the country was struck by the greatest famine within memory. With his family now too poor to pay his $80-a-year tuition, this eager learner was forced to leave school. Against those staggering odds, he continued to read, learn, and experiment. Inspired by a few old school textbooks, he devised a primitive working windmill, cobbled together from bicycle parts, blue-gum trees, and other makeshift scraps. With his homemade invention, he gave his family and himself electricity and a new start. Inspiring and refreshing as the wind.\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. \ American readers will have their imaginations challenged by 14-year-old Kamkwamba's description of life in Malawi, a famine-stricken, land-locked nation in southern Africa: math is taught in school with the aid of bottle tops ("three Coca-Cola plus ten Carlsberg equal thirteen"), people are slaughtered by enemy warriors "disguised... as green grass" and a ferocious black rhino; and everyday trading is "replaced by the business of survival" after famine hits the country. After starving for five months on his family's small farm, the corn harvest slowly brings Kamkwamba back to life. Witnessing his family's struggle, Kamkwamba's supercharged curiosity leads him to pursue the improbable dream of using "electric wind"(they have no word for windmills) to harness energy for the farm. Kamkwamba's efforts were of course derided; salvaging a motley collection of materials, from his father's broken bike to his mother's clothes line, he was often greeted to the tune of "Ah, look, the madman has come with his garbage." This exquisite tale strips life down to its barest essentials, and once there finds reason for hopes and dreams, and is especially resonant for Americans given the economy and increasingly heated debates over health care and energy policy.\ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.\ \ \ \ George Ayittey"An inspiring tale of an African Cheetah—the new generation of young Africans who won’t sit and wait for corrupt and incompetent governments—or vampire states— to come and do things for them. Here is one who harnessed the wind to generate electricity for his village—on his own."\ \ \ \ \ Al Gore"William Kamkwamba’s achievements with wind energy should serve as a model of what one person, with an inspired idea, can do to tackle the crisis we face. His book tells a moving and exciting story."\ \ \ \ \ Walter Isaacson"This is an amazing, inspiring and heartwarming story! It’s about harnessing the power not just of the wind, but of imagination and ingenuity. Those are the most important forces we have for saving our planet. William Kamkwamba is a hero for our age."\ \ \ \ \ Chris Anderson"I first met William on stage at TED.... His story, told in just a couple of minutes, was both astonishing and exhilarating. This book proves what those few minutes hinted at: a remarkable individual capable of inspiring many to take their future into their own hands."\ \ \ \ \ Carter Roberts"This book.... is a testament to the power of a dream and the freedom that comes from accomplishing a sustainable way of life. Read this book, act on its message and pass it on."\ \ \ \ \ Cameron Sinclair"A powerful read. This book takes you on a journey to discover pure innovation and the unfolding story of a natural genius. A true vision of struggle and tenacity to make a bold idea become a reality. This should be required reading for anyone who dares to dream."\ \ \ \ \ Seth Godin"A moving, touching, important story. One more reminder of how small the world is and how powerful the human spirit can be."\ \ \ \ \ Alex Steffen"Wonderful! I challenge you to read this story of one young man changing his corner of the world with nothing but intelligence and perseverance and not come away more hopeful about the prospects for a brighter, greener future."\ \ \ \ \ Emeka Okafor"Beyond opening the door to a nascent genre of African Innovation literature, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind makes excuses about why Africans can’t change their fates untenable. This potent, powerful, and uplifting message is the heart of William Kamkwamba’s courageous story."\ \ \ \ \ Amy Smith" In this book, the spirit, resilience and resourcefulness that are Africa’s greatest strengths shine through.... The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a remarkable story about a remarkable young man and his inquisitive and inventive mind."\ \ \ \ \ Mark Frauenfelder"One of the best books I’ve ever read."\ \ \ \ \ Ethan Zuckerman"I was moved first to laughter, and then to tears by William’s explanation of how he turned some PVC pipe, a broken bicycle and some long wooden poles into a machine capable of generating sufficient current to power lights and a radio in his parents’ house.\ \ \ \ \ Erik Hersman"A rare and inspiring story of hope in rural Africa....William represents a new generation of Africans, using ingenuity and invention to overcome life’s challenges. Where so many tilt at windmills, William builds them!"\ \ \ \ \ Professor George Ayittey“An inspiring tale of an African Cheetah--the new generation of young Africans who won’t sit and wait for corrupt and incompetent governments—or vampire states— to come and do things for them. Here is one who harnessed the wind to generate electricity for his village—on his own.”\ \ \ \ \ Chris Abani"William will challenge everything you have thought about Africa, about young people, and about the power of one person to transform a community. This beautifully written book will open your heart and mind. I was moved by William and his story and believe you all will. Essential, powerful and compelling."\ \ \ \ \ Nicholas Negroponte"William Kamkwamba is an alchemist who turned misfortune into opportunity, opportunity beyond his own. The book is about learning by inventing. William’s genius was to be ingenious."\ \ \ \ \ Nathaniel Whittemore"The book abounds with themes that resonate deeply: the idea that with hard work and persistence comes triumph; that optimism is not a mental state but a type of action, that from grief and loss can come success."\ \