PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
One of my favorite books is The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
It's about a 14-year-old boy named William Kamkwamba
whose parents are farmers in Malawi.
When a drought hits, they can no longer afford to send him to school.
He starts sneaking in to class, but gets caught.
To try to make up for missing class, he starts visiting his local library.
But that also has to stop when the drought is followed by a famine.
William's mother has just given birth when the famine starts.
As the famine drags on, deaths skyrocket.
William and his family just barely survive.
One day at the library William sees a book on electricity. It has a windmill on the cover.
William has never seen one before but knows it can generate electricity (why else would it be on the cover?)
And it's a photo, not a drawing, so it can be built.
With a windmill they could pump from the well, irrigate their crops, and never have to risk starvation again!
So--with no instructions, no money, and no supplies--William sets out to build a windmill.
It was fascinating, suspenseful, occasionally funny, and deeply inspiring.