William Kamkwamba: The Boy Who Harnessed the Hearts of the World

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Recommended: An essay on world hunger

In 2009 one young man changed the lives of thousands by telling his story of hardship, survival and innovation to the world. The book, "The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind" by William Kamkwamba reveals in great detail the complete blindness that our western society possesses regarding the truth of life on the continent of Africa. As citizens of the western world we have a tendency to see only the statistics and politics of the wars, famines and disasters that occur in developing countries while failing to even consider the human beings struck down by them. In this detachment we pass judgement upon the entire nation as a whole, forgetting the millions who do more in a single day with what little they have than we do with our abundance in a lifetime. Far more often than not it is the discordant few who illiberally command the lives of the impoverished many. It is in this oversight that we often miss the stories of survival and heroism of the African people that are as rampant as prosperity is scarce. With his incredible account, William Kamkwamba guides us to the illumination of this fact.

The setting for Williams' story was one of the worst hunger crises ever known to the small country of Malawi in south central Africa. The devastating famine of 2002 was brought into effect by circumstances owing to both the countries’ capricious weather and its own highly corrupt government. According to Joshua Hammer of Newsweek, Malawi’s food reserves were sold off to the highest bidder and the payment with which to replace the reserves used in the building of a grand hotel immediately prior to a mass drought followed by flooding. This led directly to famine without any means of survival for thousands of impecunious Malawian citizens (28). Will...

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...dren like William around the world. This is why I am here at this university, on this planet; to help others make their own windmills, to realise their most fervent hopes, their greatest dreams. This is life, this is higher education.

Works Cited

"A Perfect Famine: Malawi." By Steve Bradshaw. Journeyman Pictures : Documentary Distributor, Documentaries on Demand, DVD, Educational, Footage : Journeyman Pictures. Journeyman Picture, 23 Mar. 2003. Web. 09 Mar. 2012

Hammer, Joshua. "Freedom Is Not Enough." World Hunger. Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson, 2007. 27-29. Print.

Kamkwamba, William, and Bryan Mealer. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope. New York, NY: William Morrow, 2009. Print.

Wines, Michael. "Drought Deepens Poverty, Starving More Africans." The New York Times. The New York Times, 2 Nov. 2005. Web. 9 Mar. 2012.

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