The story of William Kamkwamba

 2. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words.

a. Most families in Malawi were farmers. Where they lived, there were no computers, very few televisions, and for most of their life, they didn’t have electricity—just oil lamps that spewed smoke.

b. William and Geoffrey were keen on finding out how radios and other machinery worked. They would dismantle a radio and then reconstruct it to find the secret sauce. In this way, they began their own radio repair business

c. After the floods hit William’s village, his family lost the year’s harvest. The floods left them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. Unfortunately for William, his family hadn’t any savings, so he could not continue his schooling.

d. William was only fourteen years old when he built the wind turbine. He was a simple boy who had never even seen the computer but after his invention, he was discovered by journalists and invited to speak at a TED conference, which led to a worldwide recognition of his accomplishments and goals.

3. Answer the following questions in 100-120 words

a) After quitting school, William did not lose hope. In order to catch up with his classmates, he started reading books from his village library. He explored a few science books and came across the book ‘Explaining Physics’ which he found both amusing and educational. He taught himself the principles of electricity generation. He borrowed the book for a month and studied it daily. There were difficult words in the book which he could not understand therefore he needed a dictionary. So visited the library the next day. There he came across an American textbook called ‘Using Energy’, and that book changed his life. 

b) To build a wind turbine, William needed a dynamo to build the prototype but he did not have funds. So his friend Gilbert offered to help him. Armed with knowledge, they start by creating the frame. William used his father’s broken bicycle; he attached the bicycle and dynamo to the tractor fan. He built a tall wooden tower and put the machine on top of it. He worked on it for months. As he fixed the wind turbine, a gust of wind slammed against his body, and the blades spun like furious propellers.