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Every now and then we come across a heartwarming story that also makes us feel like indulgent, do-nothing slackers. William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi (a country that most of us geographically challenged Americans probably know as 'that place where Madonna's adopted kid is from').
He grew up in extreme poverty, living through famine and cholera epidemics, lacking the money to pay even basic school fees. A spark of scientific curiosity led Kamkwamba to the local library, where he began to research dynamos and electromagnetism. (This was despite the fact that the books were in English, a language he didn't speak.)
Then, like any normal adolescent would, he started collecting scraps of garbage in the hopes of jerry-rigging a windmill in his backyard. And guess what? The thing worked, Kamkwamba became world famous -- maybe you caught him on "The Daily Show" this week -- and now eco-warrior Al Gore is blurbing his best-selling memoir, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind."
We spoke with Kamkwamba and his co-writer, Bryan Mealer, about garbage collecting, perseverance and why reporting on hope is a whole lot more fun than covering war and bloodshed.
http://www.modernghana.com/news/243502/1/14-year-old-african-turns-garbage-into-wind-power.html
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