Discover the moving true story behind the film ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’

Netflix recently premiered the film The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, a beautiful story of hope and resilience. The narrative is based on real events: the life of William Kamkwamba, a boy from a village in Malawi who, in 2001, at the age of 14, saved his people from starving to death due to a devastating drought.

O incredible.club he was impressed by William’s life and came running to tell you about it. After all, we believe that hope should always be present, even in situations where there seems to be no way out.

William Kamkwamba, now 31 years old, was born on August 5, 1987, in Dowa, Malawi. In 2014, he received his Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, Hanover, where he completed his studies in Engineering. He is also an inventor and writer.

The boy who discovered the wind had a childhood linked to nature, but not without difficulties. To survive and deal with poverty, he soon had to drop out of school. His parents couldn’t pay for his education. But his eagerness to acquire knowledge kept him going despite the constant problems in his life. William didn’t lose the will to quench his questions. Therefore, whenever he could, he went to a library to do what he liked most: reading books. His passion was none other than learning.

It was thanks to a science fiction book, Using Energy, that William, then 14 years old, discovered “the light at the end of the tunnel” when a severe drought hit his village. He decided to venture out and created a wind turbine, inventing a system for capturing wind energy to pump water and thus grow food.

Salvation came at a time when his family and neighbors in the area were barely able to eat a meal a day and the future was completely uncertain. William generated electricity for his entire village and, thanks to this feat, provided its inhabitants with water.

And how did you do that, when there was almost nothing where you lived? William created a wind turbine using blue rubber trees, bicycle parts and materials collected from a local junkyard. He already had some experience in electronics as, in an attempt to earn a living, he had started a small business in his village repairing radios. He didn’t earn much money with this initiative, he was very young, but the experience served as a glove when he decided to start working out of extreme necessity, creating a wind turbine.

William’s story circulated around the world thanks to an interview made by The Daily Show on October 7, 2009. In it, the young man was compared with the famous protagonist of the series Dangerous profession, MacGyver, for his impressive scientific ingenuity. Later, as he became better known, he received an invitation to participate in the introductory meeting of the Google Science Fair 2011 as a guest speaker. It draws attention to the fact that the magazine TEAM having included William among the “30 people under 30 who changed the world”.

And, again, William reinvented himself. After all, his goal in life was clear: never give up. After becoming famous for his invention, he contacted different companies to put into practice the idea of ​​finding a way to stop hunger in his country. He later decided to write his own biography, which prompted filming on Netflix. But the story doesn’t end there. William earned an engineering degree thanks to his tenacity and haughtiness. He knew how to take advantage of invitations to conferences and the fame he gained to continue his studies and continue learning.

If William’s life impresses many people, the film also wants to live up to his story. That’s why Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner Chiwetel Ejiofor decided to make his directorial debut precisely in the feature, in addition to playing the protagonist’s father. The role of William, a character who never gave up, was played by the young Kenyan actor Maxwell Simba.

What do you think of the story’s protagonist’s instinct to overcome? Did you feel like watching the movie or have you already done that? What other films of this style impressed you? Tell us, leave your comment!