William Kamkwamba is a 22-year-old student from the African Republic of Malawa. Poverty forced him out of school to help his family at the age of 14. Using a photo from a book, he built a windmill to power his family’s home.
He went on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night to discuss “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” which he co-authored. When Stewart asked about his experience leaving his village, he said his most shocking discovery was Google.
“Somebody told me, ‘Do you know the Internet?’ I said ‘I don’t know the Internet.’ He said, ‘Do you know Google?’ I said, ‘What animal is Google?’ They said, ‘You can Google anything.’ And I said, ‘Okay, let’s Google windmill then.’ And when I Googled windmill I found that there were millions of applications and I was like, ‘Where was this Google all this time?’”
He also said he wanted to go to school in the United States.
The KU School of Engineering should give this kid a full-ride scholarship.
