Business Communication PPT (MMS A) (2015 2017)

William Kamkwamba
Background (Slide 4)
William Kamkwamba was born August 5, 1987 in Dowa, Malawi (Southeast Africa),
and grew up on his family farm in Masitala Village, Wimbe, two and half hours
northeast of Malawis capital city, Lilongwe. The second eldest of Trywell and Agnes
Kamkwambas seven children, William has six sisters. William was educated at
Wimbe Primary School, completing 8th grade and was then accepted to Kachokolo
secondary school. Due to severe famine in 2001, his family lacked the funds to pay
the $80 in annual school fees and William was forced to drop out of school a few
months into his freshman year. For five years he was unable to go to school.

Family (Slide 5)
Left to Right: Grandma, Mother, Father, William, Grandfather

Windmill (Slide 6 8)
Starting at 14, rather than accept his fate, William started borrowing books from a
small community lending library located at his former primary school. He borrowed
an 8th grade American textbook called Using Energy, which depicted wind turbines
on its cover. He decided to build a windmill to power his familys home and obviate
the need for kerosene, which provided only smoky, flickering, distant and expensive
light after dark. First he built a prototype using a radio motor, then his initial 5meter windmill out of a broken bicycle, tractor fan blade, old shock absorber, and
blue gum trees.

Windmill (Slide 9 16)

After hooking the windmill to a car battery for storage, William was able to power
four light bulbs and charge neighbors mobile phones. This system was even
equipped with homemade light switches and a circuit breaker made from nails, wire,
and magnets. The windmill was later extended to 12 meters to better catch the
wind above the trees. A third windmill pumped grey water for irrigation.

Windmill (Slide 17 18)

The windmill project drew many visitors from kilometers around, including Dr.
Hartford Mchazime, Ph.D., the deputy director of the MTTA, the Malawian NGO
responsible for the community library. Mchazime brought press, including The
Malawi Daily Times, who wrote a long story. Soyapi Mumba and Mike McKay,
engineers at Baobab Health Partnership in Malawi blogged about the article, and
news of Williams inventions reached Emeka Okafor, program director for
TEDGlobal, a prestigious gathering of thinkers and innovators. Okafor searched
quite diligently to find William and invite him to the conference as a fellow. Williams
presentation led to additional mentors, donors, and companies supporting his
education and further projects.

Playright (Slide 19)

William also wrote and performed a HIV prevention comedy with his six best friends,
entitled You Cant Judge a Book by its Cover to over 500 villagers on three
occasions.

Education (Slide 20 - 22)

Due to the fundraising by Dr. Mchazime, William finally re-enrolled in high school at
Madisi secondary school where he spent one trimester, and then transferred to
African Bible College Christian Academy, a private prep school in the capital city of
Lilongwe. He completed his first full year back in school in June 2008. During
summer 2008 he studied immersion English at Regents Language Institute in
Cambridge, UK.
In September, 2008, William started as one of 97 inaugural students at the African
Leadership Academy, a new pan-African prep school based outside of Johannesburg,
South Africa. He graduated in June of 2010.
After graduating from The African Leadership Academy, William entered Dartmouth
College in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, in the fall of 2010.
At Dartmouth College he did his majors in environmental studies and minors in
engineering. William graduated from Dartmouth College in the spring of 2014.

Speaking (Slide 23 24)

Kamkwamba was a fellow at the prestigious TEDGlobal Conference in June 2007 in
Arusha, Tanzania where he spoke briefly.
In June 2008 he spoke at the World Economic Forum Africa meeting in Cape Town
where he keynoted the AMD-sponsored technology pre-conference, and spoke on a
panel.
He spoke at International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas Convention
Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States in January, 2009.
He also spoke at the grand opening of the African Leadership Academy in February,
2009.

Speaking (Slide 25 28)

July 2009: TED Global, Oxford, England

August, 2009: Inaugural Maker Faire Africa, Accra, Ghana

August, 2009: Inaugural Science Chicago, Chicago, US
January 2011: Google Science Fair, Chicago, US
April 2013: Clinton Global Initiative University, Danforth Campus, Washington
University, St. Louis, Missouri, US

April, 2013, Clinton Global Initiative University, Danforth

Campus, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri,
United States (slide 29)
In April, 2013 Washington University opened its Danforth Campus in St. Louis,
Missouri, United States to the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), a working
weekend retreat that trains college-age young people for service to society.
Approximately 1,200 students, hailing from 75 countries and all 50 states (and
representing some 300 colleges and universities), gathered at the university 57
April, 2013 for inspiration and information.

Documentary Film (Slide 30)

William is the subject of a documentary short film Moving Windmills, produced by
Tom Rielly and directed and edited by Ari Kushnir and Scott Thrift of Missing Pieces
which was selected as one of 50 films out of 2500+ entries for Pangea Day an
international multimedia event conducted on May 10, 2008. in six cities around the
world viz. Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro were linked
to produce a 4-hour program of films, music and speakers. The film won the North
American Filmmakers Award from Participant Productions, producers of An
Inconvenient Truth (2006) (A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue
of global warming a recognized problem worldwide), Good Night and Good Luck
(2005) (George Clooney) and Charlie Wilsons War (2007) (Tom Hanks). Building on
their initial success, Tom Rielly and Ben Nabors are currently producing a full-length
documentary on Kamkwamba.

Book (Slide 31 33)

William wrote his autobiography The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating
Currents of Electricity and Hope with co-author Bryan Mealer (author of All Things
Must Fight to Live, his reportage of the war in Democratic Republic of Congo).
William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins published the book worldwide on
September 29, 2009. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind spent five weeks on The
New York Times bestseller list in 2009. On January 19, 2010 a childrens version of
the book was released, which the Wall Street Journal deemed ingenious and the
Boston Globe called powerful.

Media (Slide 34)

Kamkwamba was profiled on the front page of The Wall Street Journal December 8,

2007, as well in major articles in The Malawi Daily Times, The Sydney Morning
Herald, La Repubblica, Banker Magazine (Financial Times, UK), a special Africa issue
of LUomo Vogue and myriad blog posts on sites such as Boing Boing,
Worldchanging and Treehugger, and his blog has been featured on the front page of
news aggregators such as Digg and Reddit.

Moving Windmills Project (Slide 35-37)

Through Moving Windmills Project foundation, William has worked extensively in
Kasungu district, particularly his own home village, Wimbe. They have been able to
build three classroom blocks with two classes each for the local primary school,
Wimbe primary school. These new classrooms have solar panel installations that
allow the students to study late into the night. They have also introduced a onelaptop-per-child initiative, which enables them to expose youngsters on how to use
computers at an early age. Williams local high school too has been a beneficiary of
Williams NGO. They have also installed solar panels and systems in Kachokolo high
school, which allow the students to use computers for their studies. Williams NGO
has created a local network through the use of egranary, a box that stores academic
information within a local network. It is like a digital library. This means that
students dont need to be online to access academic material. They simply need to
access the local network using a router!

Moving Windmills Project (Slide 38-39)

Apart from working in schools, the NGO has also sought ways to improve the
livelihoods of the residents of Kasungu district. In summer of 2013 William piloted a
biogas digester project in Masitala village. This digester uses cow dung to generate
gas for cooking, thus providing an alternative energy source to firewood.
Additionally, the processed manure can be used as fertilizer for crops, resulting in a
win-win situation for the women. The project also reduces overreliance on firewood
and overall deforestation. They hope to continue expanding this project into the
neighboring villages. Along with the bio-gas project, they have also taught people
how to fix and maintain water pumps for water wells. Indeed, most individuals
contract water borne diseases because they lack someone who can repair and keep
the water pumps in good condition. With such training having taken place in the
villages surrounding Kasungu, they hope to see a reduction in the incidences of
water-borne related illnesses.

Moving Windmills Project (Slide 40)

While working with the community, Williams NGO also saw it fit to create a football
team for both girls and boys to provide a space for school drop outs to engage in
meaningful activity, rather than remaining idle. The matches also create small
business opportunities for women and families in the area, who bring food items to
sell to the spectators. Williams younger sister, Doris Kamkwamba, runs the female
soccer team, while his friend, Binali Jamu, manages the male soccer team.

Other Projects (Slide 41)

Subsequent projects have included clean water, malaria prevention, solar power
and lighting for the six homes in his family compound; a deep water well with a
solar powered pump for clean water, a drip irrigation system, and the outfitting of
the village team Wimbe United with their first ever uniforms and shoes. Since
receiving their sun and wind-themed uniforms, the team has been on a winning
streak that has brought the village together with pride.