An Inspirational Story

I'm a sucker for inspirational stories, of people overcoming handicaps to do the unexpected. Here's a good one about William Kamkwamba:



He's even got his own blog.

Update 2009oct05: There is an article in Wired Science by Kim Zetter on this fellow:

Now 22, Kamkwamba wants to build windmills across Malawi and perhaps beyond. Next summer he also plans to construct a drilling machine to bore 40-meter holes for water and pumps. His aim is to help Africans become self-sufficient and resolve their problems without reliance on foreign aid.

“The problem we have is electricity and water problems,” he says. “I want to be tackling all of them at once.”

In a country steeped in superstition and wracked by crushing hardship and government corruption, Kamkwamba’s story is remarkable for its ingenuity and persistence.

Kamkwamba wasn’t a natural-born over-achiever. Before windmills, his biggest ambition was to be a car mechanic.