TEDGlobal 2009
William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind
William Kamkwamba: Como eu dominei o vento
Filmed:
Readability: 2.8
2,717,871 views
Aos 14 anos, em meio à pobreza e fome, um garoto de Malawi construiu um moinho para gerar eletricidade para a casa de sua família. Hoje, aos 22, William Kamkwamba, palestrante aqui no TED, pela segunda vez, conta com suas próprias palavras a emocionante história da invenção que transformou sua vida.
William Kamkwamba - Inventor
To power his family's home, young William Kamkwamba built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap -- starting him on a journey detailed in the book and film "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind." Full bio
To power his family's home, young William Kamkwamba built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap -- starting him on a journey detailed in the book and film "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind." Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Thank you.
0
0
3000
Obrigado.
00:15
Two years ago, I stood on the TED stage in Arusha, Tanzania.
1
3000
4000
Há dois anos, eu apareci no palco do TED em Arusha, Tanzania.
00:19
I spoke very briefly about one of my proudest creations.
2
7000
5000
Eu falei rapidamente sobre uma das minhas criações que mais tenho orgulho.
00:24
It was a simple machine that changed my life.
3
12000
4000
Era uma máquina simples que mudou minha vida.
00:28
Before that time,
4
16000
2000
Antes daquela época
00:30
I had never been away from my home
5
18000
3000
eu nunca tinha ido para longe da minha casa
00:33
in Malawi.
6
21000
3000
no Malawi.
00:36
I had never used a computer.
7
24000
2000
Eu nunca tinha usado um computador.
00:38
I had never seen an Internet.
8
26000
4000
Eu nunca tinha visto a Internet.
00:42
On the stage that day, I was so nervous.
9
30000
5000
Aquele dia, no palco, eu estava muito nervoso.
00:47
My English lost,
10
35000
4000
Meu inglês sumiu,
00:51
I wanted to vomit.
11
39000
2000
eu tive vontade de vomitar.
00:53
(Laughter)
12
41000
4000
(Risos)
00:57
I had never been surrounded by so many azungu,
13
45000
4000
Eu nunca tinha sido rodeado por tantos "azungu",
01:01
white people.
14
49000
2000
brancos.
01:03
(Laughter)
15
51000
3000
(Risos)
01:06
There was a story I wouldn't tell you then.
16
54000
3000
Havia uma história que eu não contei para vocês na ocasião.
01:09
But well, I'm feeling good right now.
17
57000
3000
Mas bem, eu estou me sentindo melhor agora.
01:12
I would like to share that story today.
18
60000
3000
Eu gostaria de compartilhar tal história hoje.
01:15
We have seven children in my family.
19
63000
2000
Nós somos em sete crianças na minha família.
01:17
All sisters, excepting me.
20
65000
4000
Todas meninas, fora eu.
01:21
This is me with my dad when I was a little boy.
21
69000
5000
Esse sou eu com meu pai quando eu era um garotinho.
01:26
Before I discovered the wonders of science,
22
74000
3000
Antes de eu descobrir as maravilhas da ciência,
01:29
I was just a simple farmer
23
77000
2000
eu era um simples camponês
01:31
in a country of poor farmers.
24
79000
3000
em um país de camponeses pobres.
01:34
Like everyone else, we grew maize.
25
82000
4000
Assim como todo mundo, nós cultivávamos milho.
01:38
One year our fortune turned very bad.
26
86000
5000
Um ano, nós tivemos muito azar.
01:43
In 2001 we experienced an awful famine.
27
91000
5000
Em 2001, nós passamos por uma fome terrível.
01:48
Within five months all Malawians began to starve to death.
28
96000
7000
Em cinco meses, todo mundo em Malawi começou a morrer de fome.
01:55
My family ate one meal per day, at night.
29
103000
4000
Minha família fazia uma refeição por dia, à noite.
01:59
Only three swallows of nsima for each one of us.
30
107000
4000
Somente três bocados de "nsima" para cada um de nós.
02:03
The food passes through our bodies.
31
111000
2000
Mal se sente a comida passando pelo corpo.
02:05
We drop down to nothing.
32
113000
4000
Nós desmaiávamos por nada.
02:09
In Malawi, the secondary school,
33
117000
3000
No Malawi, no segundo dia de aulas,
02:12
you have to pay school fees.
34
120000
2000
você tem que pagar matrícula.
02:14
Because of the hunger, I was forced to drop out of school.
35
122000
6000
Por causa da fome, fui obrigado a sair da escola.
02:20
I looked at my father
36
128000
2000
Eu olhei para o meu pai,
02:22
and looked at those dry fields.
37
130000
2000
e olhei para aqueles campos secos.
02:24
It was the future I couldn't accept.
38
132000
4000
Era um futuro que eu não podia aceitar.
02:28
I felt very happy to be at the secondary school,
39
136000
4000
Eu estava muito feliz por estar no segundo dia de aulas.
02:32
so I was determined to do anything possible
40
140000
5000
Então eu estava determinado a fazer qualquer coisa
02:37
to receive education.
41
145000
2000
para poder aprender.
02:39
So I went to a library.
42
147000
2000
Então eu fui para a biblioteca.
02:41
I read books, science books, especially physics.
43
149000
4000
Eu li livros, livros de ciências, em particular de física.
02:45
I couldn't read English that well.
44
153000
2000
Eu não sabia ler em inglês muito bem.
02:47
I used diagrams and pictures
45
155000
3000
Eu usava os diagramas e figuras
02:50
to learn the words around them.
46
158000
5000
para aprender as palavras ao redor.
02:55
Another book put that knowledge in my hands.
47
163000
4000
Outro livro colocou aquele conhecimento nas minhas mãos.
02:59
It said a windmill could pump water and generate electricity.
48
167000
6000
Ele dizia que um moinho poderia bombear água e gerar eletricidade.
03:05
Pump water meant irrigation,
49
173000
3000
Bombear água significava irrigação.
03:08
a defense against hunger,
50
176000
2000
Uma defesa contra a fome,
03:10
which we were experiencing by that time.
51
178000
4000
pela qual nós estávamos passando naquela época.
03:14
So I decided I would build one windmill for myself.
52
182000
4000
Então eu decidi construir um moinho sozinho.
03:18
But I didn't have materials to use,
53
186000
3000
Mas eu não tinha os materiais para usar.
03:21
so I went to a scrap yard
54
189000
2000
Então eu fui num ferro-velho
03:23
where I found my materials.
55
191000
3000
onde eu encontrei os materiais de que precisava.
03:26
Many people, including my mother,
56
194000
4000
Muitas pessoas, incluindo minha mãe,
03:30
said I was crazy.
57
198000
2000
disseram que eu era maluco.
03:32
(Laughter)
58
200000
2000
(Risos)
03:34
I found a tractor fan,
59
202000
2000
Eu achei um ventilador de trator,
03:36
shock absorber, PVC pipes.
60
204000
2000
um amortecedor, tubos de PVC.
03:38
Using a bicycle frame
61
206000
3000
Usando um quadro de bicicleta
03:41
and an old bicycle dynamo,
62
209000
4000
e um velho dínamo de bicicleta,
03:45
I built my machine.
63
213000
2000
eu construi minha máquina.
03:47
It was one light at first.
64
215000
3000
Primeiro foi uma lâmpada.
03:50
And then four lights,
65
218000
3000
Depois, quatro lâmpadas,
03:53
with switches, and even a circuit breaker,
66
221000
5000
com interruptores e até mesmo um disjuntor,
03:58
modeled after an electric bell.
67
226000
4000
feito a partir de um modelo em uma conta de luz.
04:02
Another machine pumps water
68
230000
4000
Outra máquina bombeia água
04:06
for irrigation.
69
234000
3000
para irrigação.
04:09
Queues of people start lining up at my house
70
237000
3000
Pessoas formaram filas na minha casa
04:12
(Laughter)
71
240000
2000
(Risos)
04:14
to charge their mobile phone.
72
242000
2000
para carregar seus telefones celulares.
04:16
(Applause)
73
244000
4000
(Aplausos)
04:20
I could not get rid of them.
74
248000
2000
Eu não conseguia me livrar deles.
04:22
(Laughter)
75
250000
2000
(Risos)
04:24
And the reporters came too,
76
252000
3000
E os repórteres vieram também,
04:27
which lead to bloggers
77
255000
2000
que levaram aos blogueiros
04:29
and which lead to a call from something called TED.
78
257000
5000
e levaram a um telefonema de uma coisa chamada TED.
04:34
I had never seen an airplane before.
79
262000
2000
Eu nunca tinha visto um avião antes.
04:36
I had never slept in a hotel.
80
264000
3000
Eu nunca tinha dormido em um hotel.
04:39
So, on stage that day in Arusha,
81
267000
4000
Então, no palco naquele dia em Arusha,
04:43
my English lost,
82
271000
3000
meu inglês sumiu,
04:46
I said something like,
83
274000
3000
e eu disse alguma coisa como,
04:49
"I tried. And I made it."
84
277000
4000
"Eu tentei. E eu consegui."
04:53
So I would like to say something
85
281000
2000
Então eu gostaria de dizer algo
04:55
to all the people out there like me
86
283000
3000
para todas as pessoas por aí afora, como eu,
04:58
to the Africans, and the poor
87
286000
3000
para os africanos e para os pobres
05:01
who are struggling with your dreams.
88
289000
4000
que estão lutando por seus sonhos,
05:05
God bless.
89
293000
2000
Deus os abençoe.
05:07
Maybe one day you will watch this on the Internet.
90
295000
4000
Talvez um dia vocês vejam isso na Internet.
05:11
I say to you, trust yourself and believe.
91
299000
5000
Eu lhes digo: confie em você e acredite.
05:16
Whatever happens, don't give up.
92
304000
2000
Não importa o que acontecer, não desista.
05:18
Thank you.
93
306000
2000
Obrigado.
05:20
(Applause)
94
308000
30000
(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
William Kamkwamba - InventorTo power his family's home, young William Kamkwamba built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap -- starting him on a journey detailed in the book and film "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind."
Why you should listen
William Kamkwamba, from Malawi, is a born inventor. When he was 14, he built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap, working from rough plans he found in a library book called Using Energy and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home.
After reading about Kamkwamba on Mike McKay's blog Hactivate (which picked up the story from a local Malawi newspaper), TEDGlobal Conference Director Emeka Okafor spent several weeks tracking him down at his home in Masitala Village, Wimbe, and invited him to attend TEDGlobal on a fellowship. Onstage, Kamkwamba talked about his invention and shared his dreams: to build a larger windmill to help with irrigation for his entire village, and to go back to school.
Following Kamkwamba's moving talk, there was an outpouring of support for him and his promising work. Members of the TED community got together to help him improve his power system (by incorporating solar energy), and further his education through school and mentorships. Subsequent projects have included clean water, malaria prevention, solar power and lighting for the six homes in his family compound; a deep-water well with a solar-powered pump for clean water; and a drip irrigation system. Kamkwamba himself returned to school, and is now attending the African Leadership Academy, a new pan-African prep school outside Johannesburg, South Africa.
Kamkwamba's story is documented in his autobiography, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope. A documentary about Kamkwamba, called William and the Windmill, won the Documentary Feature Grand Jury award at SXSW in 2013 (watch a trailer ). You can support his work and other young inventors at MovingWindmills.org.
William Kamkwamba | Speaker | TED.com