Outstanding.
Posted on | October 7, 2009 | No Comments
Tonight on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart interviewed William Kamkwamba, a young man from Malawi, Africa, who built a windmill in front of his family’s home after quitting school because of the famine in his country. William visited the library in his village – which was sponsored by the U.S., by the way – and found books about how to use electromagnetics. He deciphered many diagrams and illustrations in the books to not only erect the windmill, but make it provide electricity for his home. He even fashioned a circuit breaker that would protect the home in the event of a power surge.
This young man’s story is so inspiring, and it is proof positive of what you can do when you roll up your sleeves and put your mind to something. It is also an amazing example of how precious energy is; it’s hard to fathom how people in some parts of the world can still have debates about whether or not wind energy is worth having in their community, while in Africa, they have to fight for scraps in order to even gather the resources to provide energy for themselves. I think it’s a bit shameful, really.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| William Kamkwamba | ||||
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William’s book, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, came out on September 29. Don’t forget to watch the interview though… his story about discovering Google for the first time is kind of adorable.
Tags: energy > innovation > materials > money > recycling
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