The character arc of William Kamkwamba

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born 5 August 1987 in Dowa, Malawi, the second of seven children. Between then and now sit a famine that ended his schooling in 2001, a local library, a book called Using Energy, a wind turbine built at fourteen from scrap, a newspaper story in November 2006, a TED talk in 2007, a book in 2009, a Dartmouth degree in 2014 and a film in 2019. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is William Kamkwamba?

Eighty dollars stopped his schooling, so he went to the library.

He was the second of seven children in a peasant family at Masitala, and went to Wimbe Primary and then Kanchokolo secondary school until 2001. A famine came, and his parents could no longer find the annual fees, which were eighty American dollars. That is the number that ends his formal schooling: eighty dollars.

He did not stop. He started going to the local school library instead, and found electronics and engineering in it. He read a book called Using Energy, and then, at fourteen, built a working wind turbine out of blue gum trees, bicycle parts and whatever the scrapyard had. It powered his family's radio. A boy who had been taken out of school because of a famine built a generator out of rubbish because a book told him it could be done.

The Daily Times published his story in November 2006 and it travelled through blogs. Emeka Okafor invited him to TEDGlobal in Tanzania in 2007, where investors offered to pay for his education. He went to the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg from 2007 and then to Dartmouth, graduating in 2014 in environmental studies. He founded the Moving Windmills Project in 2008 to support Malawian communities, published The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind in 2009, was on the Time 30 under 30 in 2013, and a film of the book was released in 2019. His line is worth reading because the library was free and the book was already on the shelf.

The moments

William Kamkwamba's timeline.

The 2000s

Jun 2001

Eighty dollars he did not have

Setback, and it changed everything. Eighty dollars a year. That is the whole reason his schooling stopped.

1 Sep 2001

Accept it, or teach himself

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: use the library instead, taken, or work the land. He built a working wind turbine at fourteen, spoke at TED at nineteen, and graduated from Dartmouth in 2014.

~2002

He went to the library

Milestone, and it changed everything. Out of school, and into the library of the school he could no longer attend.

Jun 2002

A windmill from scrap

Milestone, and it changed everything. Fourteen years old, one library book, bicycle parts, and electricity where there had been none.

Nov 2006

A newspaper found him

Milestone, and it changed everything. One local newspaper story, and then the internet did the rest.

6 Jun 2007

TED, in Tanzania

Milestone, and it changed everything. Nineteen years old, on that stage, and people in the room offered to pay for school.

Sep 2007

Back into school

Milestone, and it changed everything. Six years after the fees ran out, back in a classroom.

~2008

Moving Windmills

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Before he had a degree, he had a nonprofit for the villages he came from.

29 Sep 2009

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Milestone, and it changed his direction. His own account, written down, which is why the story is not somebody else's to tell.

The 2010s

8 Jun 2014

A Dartmouth degree

Milestone, and it changed everything. From eighty dollars he could not find to a degree from an Ivy League college.

Mar 2019

The film

Milestone. The windmill, on screen, eighteen years after he built it.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is in his own country: a nonprofit putting power and water into Malawian villages, run by the boy who was taken out of school there.

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William Kamkwamba: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is William Kamkwamba's character arc?

A boy taken out of school at fourteen when famine left his family unable to find eighty dollars in fees, who taught himself from the local library, built a working windmill from scrap, and graduated from Dartmouth in 2014.

How did William Kamkwamba build a windmill?

From a library book called Using Energy and whatever he could find: blue gum trees, bicycle parts and scrapyard materials. He was fourteen. The turbine worked, and it powered his family's radio.

Why did William Kamkwamba leave school?

A famine left his parents unable to afford the annual tuition, which was eighty United States dollars. He had attended Wimbe Primary School and Kanchokolo secondary school until 2001, and started going to the school library instead.

How was William Kamkwamba discovered?

The Daily Times in Malawi published his story in November 2006 and it spread through blogs. The TED conference director Emeka Okafor invited him to speak at TEDGlobal 2007 in Tanzania, where investors offered to fund his education.

Where did William Kamkwamba study in the end?

At the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg from 2007, and then at Dartmouth College, graduating in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in environmental studies. That is more than a decade after the fees ran out in 2001.

What is William Kamkwamba's Moving Windmills Project?

The nonprofit William Kamkwamba founded in 2008 to support Malawian communities, started before he had a degree of his own. It is the part of the line that goes back to the villages he came from.

Is there a film about William Kamkwamba?

Yes. He published The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind in 2009, was the subject of the documentary William and the Windmill in 2013, and a film adaptation starring Chiwetel Ejiofor was released in 2019.

Where does this timeline of William Kamkwamba's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. William Kamkwamba isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

William Kamkwamba, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
The Daily Times, Malawi, November 2006.
TEDGlobal 2007 conference record.