Malawian inventor William Kamkwamba and co-author of his new biography Bryan Mealer spoke at the first-ever GES speaker event on October 2 2009.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind published in 2009, focuses on William’s impoverished childhood and efforts to build a wind turbine out of refuse in his small Malawian village.  Forced to quit school at 14, William taught himself the basics of electricity and mechanics from school books that were often in English, a language he himself did not speak.  Using the diagrams to understand complex technological concepts, he would search through landfills and trash dumps to find mechanical parts that he could not afford to buy.

William knocked together a turbine from spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade and an old shock absorber, and fashioned blades from plastic pipes, flattened by being held over a fire. The wind turbine was eventually successful and brought electricity to a village with only a few other outlets.

Bryan, a former Associated Press staff writer based in Congo and co-author of the book, says William helped remind him why he fell in love with Africa in the first place.

A TED speaker and student at a school for rising African leaders in South Africa, William is currently on a speaking tour around the U.S. but says even if offered a high paying job he feels an obligation to return to his homeland.

“William’s achievements,” Al Gore says, “should serve as a model of what one person, with an inspired idea, can do to tackle the crisis we face.”

While we work to put together a conference that strives to build the capacity of people just like William, we should remember how powerful one person can be and that determination and dedication are more important that opportunity.