The Boy Who Harvested the Wind

This is a review of William Kamkwamba's book "The Boy Who Harvested the Wind". This book is an amazing story of life in Africa today, told first hand. It shows:

• The superstitions that still exist.
• Struggles of individuals due to lack of education and other opportunities, as well as alcohol abuse.
• Political corruption that lead to a devastating famine.
• First hand account of the famine.
  
• The story of individuals struggling to survive.
• The amazing inventiveness of one boy to improve the quality of life for his family and village by building a windmill out of junk.

Many of my views were reconfirmed by this story.

• Human suffering is tragic and real.
• Giving aid to corrupt governments is a VERY ineffective way to reduce this suffering.
• Local community leaders are a better source of meeting the needs of a community.
  
• Solutions to problems can come from the most unexpected places.
• Providing people opportunities to learn and help themselves is the best solution.

Here's a video of William Presenting what he did at a TED conference.



Here's a clip from a documentary: