A teenager's scrap-metal windmill in rural Malawi
After famine forced him out of school, 14-year-old William Kamkwamba used a library book and scrap parts to build a windmill that brought electric light to his family's home.
One problem. Many solutions.
Energy
How do people find clean power where the grid doesn't reach?
Different communities face the same problem and find different answers, shaped by their own resources, knowledge and context. No approach here is presented as the right one for everywhere.
Side by side
| Who | Where | How it started | Scale | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Kamkwamba | Masitala village, near Kasungu, Malawi | Unable to afford school fees, Kamkwamba borrowed science books from a small local library, including one called Using Energy, and began collecting scrap to build a wind turbine. | Household | Documented |
What can they learn from one another? Read the "Copy this" section of each story to compare materials, costs and risks.