William Kamkwamba The Boy Who Harnessed the Hearts of the...

In 2009 one young man changed the lives of thousands by telling his story of hardship, survival and innovation to the world. The book, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind by William Kamkwamba reveals in great detail the complete blindness that our western society possesses regarding the truth of life on the continent of Africa. As citizens of the western world we have a tendency to see only the statistics and politics of the wars, famines and disasters that occur in developing countries while failing to even consider the human beings struck down by them. In this detachment we pass judgement upon the entire nation as a whole, forgetting the millions who do more in a single day with what little they have than we do with our abundance in a†¦show more content†¦Using only the diagrams from his most cherished book, â€Å"Using Energy†, William built his own windmill from junk yard scraps and eventually supplied his entire family with electricity and water. Inspired by the desp air of his countries situation, William heroically brought hope and opportunity to the entire nation. The struggles of William and his people touched me deeply and moved me to wonder if anything had been done to help the Malawians in their time of need. Were such a catastrophe to occur in the United States the outcry of the public would only be outdone by the victims of the problem themselves. Yet in Malawi what few questions were put to their tyrannical government were crushed with an iron fist and there was nothing more to be said. Thus it was from the hands of foreign powers that some small relief came. Michael Wines of The New York Times reported that the United States in association with the World Food Program stepped in almost immediately to assist with the food shortage (Wines). But some did not consider this assistance the wisest course of action. In light of the fraudulent Malawian governments penchant for conveniently misplacing funds it was said that they should be left to their own devices. Fred Smith, Jr, President of Competitive Enterprise Institute claimed as much , saying, â€Å"One of the