Photo courtesy of whiteafrican.
Last week I had the opportunity to hear a talk which left me feeling simultaneously inspired and totally inadequate. William Kamkwamba spoke about his life, experiences and inventions, which are chronicled in his new book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Born in Malawi, William and his family survived off the corn from their small farm in Wimbe. In 2001, a drought drastically reduced the crop yield, and famine grew so severe that his family lived on just one or two mouthfuls of food per day.
Because money was so tight and his family couldn't afford the fees, William had to drop out during his freshman year of high school. Not wanting to fall behind his classmates, William went to a small library nearby and studied textbooks to try to keep up. Without knowing much English, he taught himself physics by studying the diagrams and translating phrases associated with the diagrams. He then built a series windmills almost exclusively using parts he found in a junkyard. Even in the midst of so many challenges and an absolute dearth of resources, William found ways to improve the lives of his family and his community. His house has power in a region where less than 2 percent of people have electricity. He has created a drip irrigation system, a solar power system, and produced the only clean running water in 60 miles.
These days William is a bit of a celebrity. He has spoken at TED and the World Economic Forum, is traveling around the US as part of a book tour, and has appeared on the Daily Show. But as William's co-author Bryan Mealer pointed out, about four years passed between the time that William completed his windmill and the time he was connected to bloggers and reporters in the international community, and even then it seemed very happenstance. I hate to think that we could have easily missed out on William and all that he has to offer, but there are surely hundreds of others like William across Africa and the developing world that "harnessing the wind" unknown and who have the potential to contribute life-changing innovations in their communities and the world. How can do a better job of finding these amazing individuals?
William tells a funny story about the first time someone showed him Google. He said he typed in "windmill" and found millions of articles and designs for windmills, and he wondered "where was this Google all this time?" There are still times when I wonder how I would function without Google. Clearly people like William do it, but the technology I use everyday could make all the difference for them. Now 22 and applying to universities in the US, William will no doubt accomplish many more amazing things in his lifetime, but what would we have missed if someone hadn't found William's windmills and given him opportunities to realize his full potential?
The more we can find these amazing young people who, like William, are harnessing the wind and harness their creativity, perseverance and ingenuity, the better we all will be. The big question is how. We can't simply hop from one rural African village to the next, hoping to stumble across a windmill, without knowing who or what we are looking for. Many organizations, like Ashoka, USAID, TED Fellows, Echoing Green and the Skoll Foundation, try to lift up social innovators in the developing world, but how can we do an even better job of reaching people off the grid?
When William's first windmill was up and running, people were constantly stopping by to charge their mobile phones. In his rural village where most lived without electricity or running water, they had mobile phones, which may not be surprising since projections put mobile phone penetration rate in Africa at about 50 percent this year. Since advancements in mobile technology will probably continue to outpace internet connections in places like Malawi, the answer could lie in mobile. Could we set up a reporting system through which people could easily text innovative ideas, inventions or problem-solving in their communities? Not all young innovators will write books and give TED talks, so is there a way we can use mobile technology to deliver valuable information that will help them gain access to the resources they need? I still have more questions than answers about how people would know where to report these stories of innovation, how they could then be corroborated and how resources could be effectively delivered, but it's worth considering.
William's story is an inspiring one about overcoming adversity, and it's a picture of what individuals can accomplish when they persevere. But it's more than that. It's a reminder that there are untapped resources in young innovative minds around the world, and it's in our interest to find them.