Golden Life Nuggets from the Netflix Movie; “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”.
Reading and watching the true life story of William Kamkwamba… Wait! Have you seen the movie or read the book? You haven’t? Alright we’ll try not to give too much spoilers (we are not making any promises)
William, a young Malawian boy is born and raised in Masitala village to a family of farmers who understand the benefits of education. He has an elder sister who just finished her secondary education as one of the best students and is now awaiting admission into the University. It’s Williams turn now and he is absolutely excited by the opportunity and simply can’t wait for his own experience.
Unfortunately, William wasn’t in school for so long. Shortly after he had started school, there was a great flood in the village, one that snatched the means of livelihood of many. The flood was caused by deforestation; cutting down of trees. Sounds like something that could’ve been avoided right? Didn’t anyone in the village know the effect this activity will have on the land?
Being a community that operated a predominantly agricultural economy, wasn’t there anyone to educate the villagers on the effect of deforestation on the farms and advise against it? Actually, Trywell Kamkwamba as played by Chiwetel Ejiofor (William’s father) did, he tried to convince the other farmers and landowners that it was a bad idea but his advice was not heeded and sadly Trywell wasn’t exempted. Trywell’s only source of income was his farms and now it was consumed by flood, where does this leave William? Poor William was sent out of the same school he had barely started.
William soon got really idle but very unlike the devil’s workshop, he discovered something that changed his life forever. From one anger episode against his teacher for not having his back, he discovers that the teacher’s bicycle was powered by a dynamo (a device that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy). This was his very first contact with the concept of electricity and was going to be the start of William’s journey to solving a community-wide water crisis.
William got reading, experimenting and testing his learnings on every and anything. Soon, William was inventing; he kicked off with a windmill powered by a car battery to power a radio for a football game with his friends.
As with a lot of big ideas, you need people with the resources to pull it off, this is the same case with us at Thrive Agric; A huge vision to feed Africa and the world is nothing without your participation to build this future with us. In Williams case, he needed his father to give him his bicycle to be chopped off to make a turbine that supplied water to farms in neighbouring villages. After a lot of resistance, His father gave in and finally the windmill was built and worked. Some scenes bring tears, others make you laugh but in all an ode to ingenuity, knowledge and never saying never. William became known, he completed his secondary education and later graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, USA.
As Farmily, we were able to pick some valuable nuggets from the series of events preceding and following the flooding in the Masitala;
Water gives life but it also destroys:
Too much of a thing is bad and less of it too, this was the case of Masitala village. Yes, water is needed for crops to grow but if more than needed, crops are at risk of being destroyed. Interestingly, Nature finds a balanced way to regulate itself. Trees help to reduce the risk of flooding, they help to prevent soil erosion and increase water absorption into the ground. Without trees, it becomes difficult for excess water be drained and this drowns plants. In summary, the right of amount of water coupled with the right soil condition ensures a bountiful harvest.
No farming, No food:
Some people are oblivious to the importance of agriculture and the dependence on it for the food on their table. May we remind you that your rice and beans didn’t fall from the skies, they were actively grown. There are people working acres, growing crops and raising livestock to ensure that there’s food on your table and theirs too. Farming was Trywell’s business, he fed his family off it and he catered to his bills by selling his produce.
People who educate their minds can change the world:
Education is wealth. William’s parents could no longer afford his tuition fees but he was given to educating himself even outside the four walls of a school. It paid off, he kept inventing solutions to his immediate problems and even more could now afford to send himself to school off his inventions.
No Risk, No Reward:
The story proves that sometimes you might have to take a risk to get a reward. William had been sent out of the school premises because of his inability to pay his fees but he risked accessing the library illegally to gain knowledge. This, had a huge part to play in his discovery and all the knowledge he had gathered overtime aided his inventions.
With great risks come great rewards — Thomas Jefferson.
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