Named a ‘librarian favorite’ at BookExpo 2009, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind-Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope,” is the story of William Kamkwamba’s struggle to change his life in Malawi, a famine-stricken, landlocked nation on the southeastern tip of Africa.

Using books from his local library and odds and ends from his family’s farm and a local scrapyard, this fourteen year old boy, too poor to continue with school, built a windmill that would bring electricity to his family’s home.

Kamkwamba has become a worldwide sensation, and his story is documented in this autobiography. A short documentary about Kamkwamba, called Moving Windmills, won several awards last year; Kamkwamba and friends are now working on a full-length film. You can read the ongoing details on his blog (which he keeps with help from his mentor), and support his work and other young inventors at MovingWindmills.org. You can see The ‘Good Morning America’ segment on Kamkwamba here.

PLA staff member Brendan Dowling interviewed Kamkwamba’s village librarian, Ms. Edith Sikelo, via email.

PLA: Since most of our readers are unfamiliar with libraries outside the United States, can you describe what your library is like? Who supplies the books? How are they organized? Who are the people who use the library most frequently? What kinds of information are they looking for?

Ms. Sikelo: My Library is generally small and in one of the small rooms in the Education Advisor’s Office at our school. The shelves could measure about 5m long and 3m wide. There are shelves which are divided into compartments. The compartments are marked according to the subjects of the books. The books were supplied by the government through a Certain Non Profit Organization. Some books were supplied by USAID
The Library is frequently used by our students as well as the
community. Most of the people like to check out Science, math and
History books.

PLA: Can you describe to our readers why William started to visit the library so frequently? What role did you and the library play in William’s life?

Ms. Sikelo: William started visiting the library because he still had an interest in school, despite dropping out of school as he still wanted to be reading what his friends were probably studying in class. I encouraged William to be reading as many books as he could after noticing the interest in books.

PLA: When William first started spending time at the library, were you aware of how big his dream was? What was your impression of him when you first met him?

Ms. Sikelo: I was not aware of the his plans until I discovered that he kept checking out the same book for a number of times. This is a book called ‘Using Energy.’ My first impression when I first met William was normal, I just handled him just like anybody else bearing in mind his situation as a drop out.

PLA: William’s project was so complex, what kind of research did he have to do to accomplish it? What did you think of his plan the first time you realized it?

Ms. Sikelo: Indeed William’s project was so complex because he had to look for locally available materials in junkyard, bicycle dynamos, and books. The first time I realized his plans, I just thought he can do to a certain level but not to the extent of building a real windmill. So I just encouraged him and reported his plan to the higher authorities ‘District Cordinator of Education who further reported this matter to the Head Office in Zomba.

PLA: Have you noticed a change in the way students use the library since William became so successful?

Ms. Sikelo:
There is tremendous change in the usage of the Library now. The
Library is now very busy because people know that it is where William
got his information. Even the number of students at our school has
gone up since this is where William did his primary education.

PLA: You’re also a teacher. Has there been a change in students’ attitude towards education since William has become so popular in his achievements?

Ms. Sikelo: Indeed I am a teacher, there is an over whelming number of learners who have joined the school. We have 1,418 students, almost double before William’s success. William has become a role model that most parents are now sending their kids to school aiming at seeing them becoming successful just like William did.