When there is nothing, you build something

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This is Green Jobs Rising, your daily cup of coffee.

Have you heard of the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind? It’s a powerful and inspiring journey that starts with a small boy, a small village, a big idea, and a windmill made from scrap that grows into a global story of innovation and impact.

Mmh! I know you have!

Today, we’re sharing a Q&A with William Kamkwamba, the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and the 2019 film adaptation by the same name.

Heads up: This is a long read! But you’ll thank yourself for sticking around!

This Q&A is a creative interpretation based on publicly available stories, interviews, and speeches by William Kamkwamba. While the answers reflect his known experiences and words, this conversation did not take place in real life.

Q: Who is William Kamkwamba?
I am an inventor, engineer, and author from Malawi. I’m best known for building a windmill from scrap materials as a teenager, which brought electricity to my family's home during a time of hardship.

I’m also the co-founder of the Moving Windmills Project, an organization that partners with communities in the Masitala area of Malawi to develop sustainable solutions—such as drilling wells for clean water and installing solar panels in schools and community centers to provide reliable electricity.

Q: How did your journey begin?
I grew up in rural Malawi, where my family farmed maize. We lived in poverty, and life was already challenging. Then in 2001, when I was 14, a famine hit. Droughts and heavy rains had ruined our harvests, and the government had sold off the country’s grain reserves.
Food was scarce, and things became even harder.

My family couldn’t afford to keep me in school anymore, so I had to drop out. That moment changed everything. It’s when I started looking for answers on my own.

Q: How did you get to where you are?
I’ve always had an insatiable curiosity and enjoyed tinkering with electronics. Even after I had to leave school, I didn’t want to give up on learning. I spent time at the local school library, where I discovered books about electronics. That’s when I realized how much I loved it.

After the famine, I returned to school, but the fees were more than 2,000 kwacha, which my family couldn’t afford. I tried sneaking into classes, but eventually I was caught. My father begged the teachers to let me stay, and some agreed. He repaid them the only way he could: by giving them tobacco.

Q: How did you get to making a windmill?
With time on my hands and a strong desire to learn, I continued studying on my own. I was very curious about science and how things worked, so I went to the library and read school textbooks, even though I couldn’t read English. I saw a picture of a windmill that could pump water. We had never seen one before in my village. We didn’t even have a word for it.

With no money for materials, I started collecting scraps from the town junkyard. Using a few diagrams from the book and a strong belief in myself, I built a working windmill that powered electrical appliances in my family’s home. People made fun of me for collecting junk, they thought I was going insane. But I was focused. If someone built a windmill somewhere in the world, I could do it too.

Word of the windmill spread quickly. Soon, the same people who had laughed were lining up at our house to charge their cell phones. My story was picked up by national and international media. That eventually led to an invitation to speak at TEDGlobal, and later, my story was turned into a movie that reached audiences around the world.

Having electricity in our home changed our lives. We no longer had to rely on smoky paraffin lamps that made us cough, and we didn’t need to spend money on kerosene or batteries just to run the radio. And I could finally study at night.

Q: What changed after your story became public?
After the Daily Times published my story, I was invited to TEDGlobal 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. That opportunity led to my education being fully sponsored. I returned to secondary school, then attended the African Leadership Academy, and later graduated from Dartmouth College.

In 2010, I received the GO Ingenuity Award, which funded workshops in my home village where I taught young people how to build wind turbines and repair water pumps.

Q: Considering all the global recognition, what does success look like to you?
For me, success is about making a lasting difference in my community. Through the Moving Windmills Project, we work with local residents on projects like drilling wells for clean water and installing solar panels, bringing consistent electricity to classrooms and gathering spaces.

We also help young Malawians create simple solutions to everyday farming challenges. I shared my story in a memoir, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which has been adapted into a film and a children’s book. The memoir is now included in some university reading lists and continues to reach students around the world.

That, to me, is what success means, when your story inspires others to imagine, build, and believe in change.

Q: What is your advice to young people?
You are the future. In Malawi, half the population is under 25, yet two-thirds may not finish primary school. That’s a big challenge, but also a big opportunity. Young people represent the country’s greatest potential.

There are so many talented young people all over the world. But to realize your talent, you need both the space to work and mentors to support you. That’s the difference between just having an idea and actually building it.