William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind

Video Information
Speaker: William Kamkwamba
Talk: William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind
Link: http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind.html

Description
This video is about William Kamkwamba, at only 14 he built a windmill to provide power for his family. He was forced to dropout of school because his family couldn't afford the tuition. He wanted to continue to learn, so he went to a library and he read about physics and read that a windmill could pump water and provide power. He didn't have any materials so he went to a scrap yard to get them. From what he found there he was able to build two windmills, one to power his home and one to pump water. He also found a light bulb and what he needed for a light switch and circuit breaker.

After he completed his project, people start to lineup outside his house to charge their cellphones. After awhile reporters started coming too. TED found out about it and invited him to come talk at TED. This is now his second time talking at TED.

My Impressions
It's amazing that he was able to accomplish building a windmill with so little. You would have to be very smart and determined to do something like that. I found it interesting that he did this after dropping out of school and reading things that interested him.

Other links

Name: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Link: http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/williamkamkwamba/book.html
Description: This is a book about William Kamkwamba and how he built his windmill.

Name: William Kamkwamba on building a windmill
Link: http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_on_building_a_windmill.html
Description: This is the video from his first TED Talks.

Name: William Kamkwamba's Flickr account
Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9278648@N04/
Description: You can see a lot of photos of William, his windmills and village.