A LOT TO LEARN FROM THE STORY OF HOW IMAGINATION AND INGENUITY CHANGED A FAMILY, A VILLAGE, AND A NATION

At age 14, in poverty and famine, a Malawian boy built a windmill to power his family's home. Now at 22, William Kamkwamba, who speaks at TED,
for the second time, shares in his own words the moving tale of invention that changed his life.

With nothing more than a fistful of cornmeal in his stomach, a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks, and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to bring his family a set of luxuries that only two percent of Malawians could afford and what the West considers a necessity--electricity and running water. Using scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves, William forged a crude yet operable windmill, an unlikely contraption and small miracle that eventually powered four lights, complete with homemade switches and a circuit breaker made from nails and wire. A second machine turned a water pump that could battle the drought and famine that loomed with every season.

A more detailed description of Kamkwamba's feat of do-it-yourself engineering was provided by Malawi's Daily Times:

The windmill stands on a tripod of wooden polls about five metres above the ground. It consists of locally-available materials and as far as he can remember his investments were K500 for two bearings, K500 for a bicycle dynamo, K400 for a fun belt and K800 for a bicycle frame.
The propellers are made of plastic pipes supported by sticks so that they should not bend when the wind is strong and placed almost vertical to the direction of where the wind comes from.
Unlike most windmills, where the propellers turn the spindle connected to the turbines directly, William added pulleys to his machine to increase speed thereby generating more energy.
There are three pulleys and the last is connected to a bicycle wheel. When this wheel turns, it spins a dynamo which in turn generates electricity.

The generator powered four electric lights and two radios in the Kamkwamba family's house, allowing them to stay up later and freeing them from having to travel long distances to purchase paraffin for lamps. A second windmill provided running water to irrigate crops.
News of Kamkwamba's accomplishments spread rapidly, first throughout Malawi and then via the blogosphere, which garnered him international renown. He was invited as a guest to a TED conference in Tanzania in 2007, then received a scholarship to study at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa, and with the help of an American sponsor attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, from which he graduated in 2014. He remains involved in many engineering and construction projects and charities in his home village of Dowa, Malawi.

 Click here to learn more about Kamkwamba

or 

Watch Kamkwamba's Ted Talk story here

 SOURCE: snopes