William Kamkwamba Wind turbine inventor from Malawi

14 year old boy William from Malawi, with very little education picked up a library book Using Energy.
He found a picture of a windmill and read the instructions on how to make electricty by using the wind .

He already had collected together lots of junk .His friends thought he was ‘dirty’. His mother was horrified that he would hoard scrap in his bedroom.

By following the instructions in a library book, using some of his junk and his friend Gilbert buying the extra pieces needed, he created a working windmill.

His friends were impressed. The finished mill was nearly 3 metres wide. A 5 metre wooden tower was built to hold the windmill. The spinning windmill worked.

His former primary teacher asked him to run a science club for the students.
An education official, Dr. Hartford Mchazime, was impressed when he saw the mill when he visited the school. He helped William return to school.

The news of the boy and his windmill spread across Malawi.

Internet coverage followed. He was invited to join a TED conference in Arusha, Tanzania for young innovators. Ted Rielly paid for his education for the next 7 years. He studied at Dartmouth College in the USA.

His dream to help his family and others has been turned into a film.

He gave his family security against hunger.

He has recently created online teaching material to help other developing countries find ways to solve problems for their communities.

Sources
Wikipedia
Earth Heroesby Lily Dyu and Amy Blackwell