I think this is the first autobiography of an African I’ve read where the writer hasn’t spent significant amount of time in Europe or the United States. William Kamkwamba frames his story without much European affectation. Being young, he doesn’t write with the knowledge of where his life and choices took him; that remains in the future. His biography has much more immediacy and less remoteness than one can expect from an older and more experienced person. Although written in the past tense, it feels present tense.
William Kamkwamba is a 23 year old Malawian from a smallish village called Wimbe. Most residents are farmers, and barely above subsistence level. Due to a number of family setbacks, including a devastating famine that affected all of Malawi, Kamkwamba dropped out of his rural school. The family could no longer afford his tuition. But being a bright, inquisitive tinkerer, William pored through books on physics from a 3 bookshelf library. From that, he got the idea to build a windmill which could provide electricity to his family household. Built mostly from scrap bicycle, automobile, and tractor parts, the windmill went from powering a small bulb to wiring multiple rooms in the house. His eventual goal was to power a pump so that the family would not be subject to famines due to drought conditions.
Kamkwamba’s do-it-yourself tinkering mindset is what got him noticed, though it took some time. Malawian newspapers noticed at first. Then international bloggers picked it up. Then he was invited to talk at TED. Then a documentary about him was made. And then Bryan Mealer tracked him down to tell his story in this book.
The story isn’t just Kamkwamba’s windmill though. It covers his earliest memories up until his return to school as a result of his windmill notoriety. I found the stories in his early life much more interesting than the nuts and bolts of putting together a windmill. By the time the windmill story gets moving, Kamkwamba is somewhat on auto-pilot. His personality and drive has already been formed. The earlier parts actually do a pretty good job of showing why he has the drive he does. He becomes motivated by a desire to better his family’s situation. He has an earnestness that is very charming.
I have some concerns about the narrative after Kamkwamba achieves fame. He briefly describes a trip he took to the United States. It veers towards a Eddie Murphy Coming to America rube awed by the strange technologies of the white man kind of vibe. I wanted to both congratulate Kamkwamba on having made it
while simultaneously tell him he’s better than merely wondering at the skyscrapers. Luckily, my impression of him from his presentation at the Seattle Public Library last fall didn’t leave me with the idea that he was overwhelmed, so maybe I’m reading more into that section than I should.
As painful as it is for me to write this, Charles Mudede also has a point about Kamkwamba. I write painful because normally Mudede’s navel gazing makes me cringe. And his city/country dichotomy is somewhat elitist. But I think he’s right about why Kamkwamba is getting first world attention: it fits in with the preconceptions of a white guy like me. One of the commenters makes the point much better than Mudede does:
Guys like the windmill guy always get the attention because it feeds into the totally narrow American view of who Africans are. … Africa is only about poor people living in the bush, with disease and misery all the time. That’s the view. And wow, looky there, at the simple windmill guy – aw, how heartwarming for all of us. Sniff, sniff. Africans like Dambisa Moyo (who none of you likely know), a successful economist and author from Zambia, you never hear about, do you? SHE’S not Africa for us. We just want warm and fuzzy stories about simple folk out in the bush making windmills. Cause it makes us feel good.
Reading around blogs on this book, the word inspiring
comes up a lot. I do not think it means what these people think it means. Kamkwamba has a very feel good story, but if more than a couple of handful of people have built their own windmills because they read this book, I’d be highly surprised. Kamkwamba has certainly done some inspiring, particularly through encouraging people to donate to his pet charities. But I’m betting only a small fraction of people will actually be inspired to change things they actually do. Which is why I kind of agree with Mudede and the other commenters sentiments. This book feels good, but it isn’t particularly game changing.
That doesn’t take anything away from what Kamkwamba has done. He’s a smart kid who has overcome odds. And he’s got a huge amount of potential to become much more than a rural over-achiever. He didn’t just overcome odds. He also had a vision for his family and worked to achieve it. He wasn’t just looking to get ahead; he wanted to break the cycle. Both from the book and from his appearance, I get the feeling he’s destined for something more than being the simple guy who made good. I sure hope so. He may be a game changer.
Beyond Kamkwamba’s personal story, his book offers a look into life in Malawi, both economically and culturally. Kamkwamba doesn’t paper over things like belief in witchcraft or government corruption. The reader gets a first hand look at what something just above subsistence farming looks like first hand, what people do with their time, how school works, what town life is like, and more. These pieces of African life, while not particularly surprising, aren’t something with which I was familiar.
A few other blogged reviews:
Title: The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
Authors: William Kamkwamba; Bryan Mealer
Cover creator: Mary Schuck (designer/illustrator)
Imprint / publisher: William Morrow / HarperCollins
Format: Hardcover
Length: 270 p.
Publication date: 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-173032-0
