1. William Kamkwamba gained renown in his country in 2001 when he built a wind turbine to power multiple electrical appliances in his family's house in Wimbe, 23 kilometres east of Kasungu, using blue gum trees, bicycle parts, and materials collected in a local scrapyard.
William Kamkwamba snuck into school, but later on got caught, so William's dad would beg some teachers to let him stay and they did, and the dad would repay them with tobacco.
William Kamkwamba, after reading a book called Using Energy, decided to create a makeshift wind turbine.
William Kamkwamba experimented with a small model using a cheap dynamo and eventually made a functioning wind turbine that powered his dad's radio, Local farmers and journalists investigated the spinning device and Kamkwamba's fame in international news skyrocketed.
In 2007 William Kamkwamba entered an intensive two-year academic program combining the Cambridge University A-levels curriculum with leadership, entrepreneurship, and African studies at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa.
William Kamkwamba then went on to study at Dartmouth College, Class of 2014.
William Kamkwamba's speech moved the audience, and several venture capitalists at the conference pledged to help finance his secondary education.
William Kamkwamba's story was covered by Sarah Childress for The Wall Street Journal.
William Kamkwamba became a student at African Bible College Christian Academy in Lilongwe.
William Kamkwamba then went on to receive a scholarship to the African Leadership Academy and in 2014 graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
The Primary Goal of the Moving Windmills Project is to be able to provide basic needs such as clean water, have proper learning materials and facilities within schools, and sustainable farming, nutrition, and community programs to ensure a famine will never happen again or as severe as it was when William Kamkwamba endured the 2002 Malawi Famine.
William Kamkwamba made an appearance at each university to discuss his book and life.
William Kamkwamba is featured in the book Extraordinary People by Michael Hearst and is the subject of a song from the companion album Songs For Extraordinary People.
In 2014, William Kamkwamba received a bachelor of arts degree in environmental studies from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire where he was elected to the Sphinx Senior Honor Society.