Boy who harnessed the wind analysis essay

William is starving, so is Khamba, so they decide to go out and attempt to hunt – William comments on the tall maize fields that will soon end the starving – Because no food, William uses ash for bait in his bird catch trap. They don’t end up catching anything – Soon Khamba is starving so bad his friends suggest William put the dog out of its misery, then they insist – William and Charity tie Khamba to a tree and leave him. The next day they go to check to see if dead and sure enough khamba is dead – Cholera sweeps through the district Geofferey gets really sick from anemia – hunger/starvation really difficult on the family. Williams dad loses a lot of weight, begins weighing himself each day – Williams dad refuses to eat to feed the others.

– Sister gets Malaria, but pulls through – Family barely makes it by, by selling tobacco at very low prices because they are forced to trade – Finally maize is ready to eat as Dowe, pumpkins also ready to eat – Familys crops gets picked on by thieves Chapter 9 School picks up but William still cant afford to go, so he begins reading a lot at the library. Tries to catch up with school kids – Introduced to Malawi jr science book, sparks curiousity about science, how things work – Understands by looking at diagrams/deciphering English – Eventually reading physics books more complicated that those of his classmates – Fascinated with magnets and electricity (AC vs DC) – Stumbles upon book called “ Using Energy” with a windmill on the cover – Begins to understand the process of how windmills produce energy gt; realizes that this could greatly held his family – So he decides to make a practice model windmill first before actually trying to make the big one – Has difficulty finding a dynamo/generator for the project, but eventually uses a radio dynamo – They experiment using and old radio and it works. – Next he starts looking for the parts to create his real windmill, looking in the scrapyard. Things on the up and up Chapter 10 Second school term approaches, able to attend until the grace period of no fees is up – After the grace period William starts sneaking into class – his father arranges for William to be admitted for another 3 weeks to give them time to collect the fee money – Williams father tries to come up with enough money from the tobacco harvest, but cannot, and once again, William is no longer allowed at school – “ I couldn’t look him in the eyes. Whenever I did I saw the rest of my life.

” gt; William referring to his father after being told he cant send him to school – The harvest of maize is ready and brings a bountiful crop to the village – Feeling bad about William not being able to go to school guilted his dad into allowing him to not work on the fields, and instead focus on the windmill – Begins to fall in love with scrap yard and physics – People begin to think William is crazy as news spreads in town of Williams endeavor – One day a man with a bicycle dynamo rides by and Gilbert buys it with money his dad had given him, for William gt; this was the last major piece of the puzzle, William very grateful because it was expensive Chpt 11- -William goes to work finishing the assembly of the windmill because he isn’t in school or in the fields > Everyone thinks he’s crazy – William finishes the windmill, then puts it on a bamboo temporary pole to test it > When him and Geoffrey test it on temporary tower, the blades spin so fast chain rips in half and the pole nearly tips over gt; Then decides to fix chain and test voltage on fathers radio, which breaks the radio – Geoffrey Gilbert and William build real tower in one day > 16ft tall > Cut down blum gum tree in forest to supply wood for tower -The next day the three used Williams moms clothesline as a pulley system to hoist the windmill onto the tower they constructed > After they secure it, people from the market immediately wander over, ask about the windmill gt; They are all amazed to see that he created “ electric wind” no longer think hes crazy – Word spreads, for a month 30 onlookers a day come to look at the windmill, ask questions – Begins the work on getting electricity into room with copper wire, bought by Geoffrey for 100kwatcha > This is successful, plans to give all rooms light and installing a battery when no wind blows Chpt. 12 – Williams cousin Ruth, has cell phone, who keeps bugging him to go charge it in the market till one day shes asks why not charge it using his windmill. gt; In order to do this, he makes his own step-up transformer, and is able to charge her phone > Also William installs an electrical outlet in his wall > Words get around, next thing, lines of people outside the house to get phones charged – William buys a car battery from a friend.

Uses it to power three light bulbs in the house, with switches. When the battery is stored, it can hold 3 days energy for all the lights in the home, even with no wind – One day the roof collapses, termites and grass and wood fall into Williams bed. Chickens called in to eat termites. Also, the wires which weren’t supposed to be crossed, had crossed and could have started a fire, but luckily they were so cheaply made they didn’t catch the grass roof on fire. > So he decides, to be safe, he needs to make and install a circuit breaker > cyclone hits the house, circuit breaker saves them this time – Bike chain begins to give him trouble, comes flying off, and hurting him, so he installs a new and improved pulley system which uses a belt instead of a chain Chpt.

13 William gets the idea to use the windmill as a transmitter, to transmit a radio station. > So he experiments with 2 radios testing if he can transmit sound from radio to radio – “…though the windmill and radio transmitter had both been successes, I couldn’t say the same for a few other experiments. ” > Water pump attempt to help get water to the fields – Next failed experiment, Biogas-convert animal waste into liquid fuel, which would be used to power his mothers cooking > Used goat poop, put into pit, the gases created supposedly can be trapped and used as power gt; This was a major failure, that didn’t work, and ruined his mothers cooking pot and food – In late 2003 Williams mother gets malaria (which kills over a million people pr year in Africa) > They rush her to the hospital where she is treated and sent home because not enough beds > Then slips into coma > Williams dad takes her to hospital alone, its spread to the brain, but she eventually overcomes – Gilberts father, chief wimbe, passes away, a funeral follows – New president is elected, who subsidizes fertilizer among other helpful changes gt; One day while picking up fertilizer, William doesn’t get his because corrupt gov officials – After the crops begin to grow, it rains, then goes completely dry, the harvest greatly suffers – People turn to blaming magic for the droughts, suffering in Malawi – 2006, liklihhood of famine high, people start blaming magic again > Leads to people questioning Williams wind tower (they thought it blew away the rain) – Blame magic for HIV AIDS > example of magic men supposedly curing AIDS/HIV is a joke – William joins the Wimbe Youth Friendly Health Services Club, learning prevention/treatment of aids gt; William creates a play to help persuade people to get tested + helps change the attitude to the village > Very dedicated to the club, acts as a replacement of school, redirects energy – Eventually William is asked to start up a science club at school, where he builds a smaller version of a windmill and teaches students the importance of science – “ More and more, bringing electricity to my people no longer seemed like a madman’s dream. ” Chapter 14 – Early November 2006, Malawi Teacher Training activity notices Williams windmill and this sparks a chain of events gt; He is eventually visited my Dr. Mchazime, who tells William and his parents + “ I have a feeling this boy will go far. I want you to be ready.

” > He is visited by a radio program, interviewed by famous radio voice > Soon many other news programs visit him, asking questions about the windmill – When the news programs play, and come out publicly, the village praises William on his achievement, and finally begin to accept the windmill – After the publicity comes, he begins to improve windmill, boosting the height to 36 feet and increasing the speed and voltage produced 2x – Dr. Mchazime begins to fight for William to get back into school, coming up with the money between his own money and several of his colleagues money. However they still cannot get a spot for William until… > officials from the Ministry of Labor visit Williams windmill, and immediately enroll him in a science oriented boarding school – Articles about William catch the eye of an American which prompts the attention of another American who happened to be the program director for the TEDGLOBAL CONFERENCE, so he gets William to apply > The conference is in Tanzania William begins to attend secondary school, not a scientific boarding school like the one promised though, where he catches up. He is away from home for the first time. > Leaves Gilbert in charge of the windmill – While William is in school, he is preparing for his trip to the TED CONF. Dr.

Mchazime gives him travel advice, including airplane etiquette. Chapter 15 – Gets on the plane to Tanzania, arrives at TED conference > introduced to technology, internet, laptops, for the first time – Speaks to the audience, well received Tom later speaks to William about making his other dreams come true > to remain in school, and the build a larger windmill for irrigation of his parents crops – William receives donations to go towards his lofty goals from business men > buys cell phone to communicate with parents – Accepted into private school > Computer screen classes streaming from US – Sets out modernizing the village, and his home with solar panels, eco friendly lights, insulation etc. Sees NY City for the first time, visiting Tom, is overwhelmed at the big city > Then to LA, and Las Vegas – “ if you want to make it, all you have to do is try.

” Epilogue “ I Hope this story finds its way to our brothers and sisters out there who are trying to elevate themselves and their communities, but who may feel discouraged by their poor situation. I want them to know they’re not alone. By working together, we can help remove this burden of bad luck from their backs, just as I did, and use it to build a better future. ”