William Kamkwamba's Life

Summary
Sometimes we inadvertently make choices that change our lives and possibly history. Such was the case when William Kamkwamba, an inquisitive boy from Malawi, took apart a broken radio to discover how it worked. From that moment he was hooked on figuring out electricity, how it functioned and what it could do. Scouring dump yards for parts to repair radios and cell phones became his favorite hobby. He would go to the small public library and check out books on electricity and would read and reread those pages until he understood more than his teachers. In between his experiments with electricity he worked at odd jobs and in the fields to help feed his family. William grew up in a country filled with starvation, drought and hard work.
The village mocked him as they watched the windmill blades begin to turn, but through perseverance he did design a machine that provided electricity and a small light for him to read at night by. William’s story doesn’t stop with the building of the windmill. He continued to improve on the design and build other inventions. People came from miles around, even from other countries to see the windmill and electricity William designed. The growing fame allowed William additional opportunities. He traveled to meet important men and women who would assist him in obtaining an education. Upon saw a computer for the first time he realized the scope of education available through internet. But through the entire story he remained in love with his country and the opportunity that he had to improve the lives of the people of Malawi, who continued to fight disease and
Few Americans live with constant hunger, lack of basic life necessities like water, few Americans are denied an education, yet we fail to appreciate all we have. Perhaps a little depravation and struggle is good for innovation. When life gets too easy, we fail to stretch and to grow, we become complacent with our position in life. Furthermore, when handed an education, we complain about the lack of computers, nicer desks, and the latest textbooks. We fail to see that the challenges will provide opportunities to learn to gain life knowledge and character. The message of this book is that when we have nothing but hope, we can fulfill our dreams if we move forward with a plan and focus on those dreams. William, Mechai, and Sir Fazel had dreams that required them to innovate and to develop determination in order to succeed. Yet, we each make choices every day, which could inadvertently lead us on a path to solving humanities issues. Only if we have learned how to think and to take action when confronted with these issues can we find solutions to improving the lives of those around