“Think of your dreams and ideas as
tiny miracle machines inside you
that no one can touch.”
William Kamkwamba

I just finished reading a young adult book that was the most amazing story I’ve read in a long, long time. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a biography told and written by William Kamkwamba and his life in the tiny nation of Malawi, Africa.

William’s book is a heartwarming story about his family and friends struggle to just survive in this starving nation. Through his passion to learn and love of science, he was able to build a windmill to supply energy for his families farm.

This book touched me in so many ways. How this thirteen year old boy was able to accomplish what he did in such a short time was a miracle in itself. How his family lived and survived without food, without all the modern convenience we as U.S. citizens take for granted daily. William’s family couldn’t afford the cost of an education for him and his six sisters, so William would walk to the library and read and teach himself about science.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind should be a must read for all students and people of every nation. So much can be learned by what William and his nation have to deal with daily. Even with all the obstacles in his way, he stayed focused on his goals and dreams. Thinking of his dreams and ideas as tiny miracle machines inside of him that no one could ever touch. Always believing that the more faith you put into your dreams, the bigger they get, until one day they’ll rise up and take you with them.

But there is one lesson that young William said would always stay with him and that was, “if you want to make it, all you have to do is try.”

Shine On