TEDGlobal 2007
William Kamkwamba: How I built a windmill
William Kamkwamba : Construire un moulin à vent
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Quand il avait à peine 14 ans, l'inventeur du Malawi William Kamkwamba a construit pour sa famille un moulin à vent générateur d'électricité avec des pièces détachées, en travaillant à partir de plans trouvés dans un livre à la bibliothèque.
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.
00:29
Chris Anderson: William, hi. Good to see you.
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Chris Anderson : Bonjour William, c'est bon de vous voir.
00:31
William Kamkwamba: Thanks.
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William Kamkwamba : Merci.
00:32
CA: So, we've got a picture, I think? Where is this?
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CA : Nous avons une photo, je crois? Où est-ce?
00:37
WK: This is my home. This is where I live.
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WK : C'est chez moi. C'est là que j'habite.
00:41
CA: Where? What country?
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CA : Où? Dans quel pays?
00:43
WK: In Malawi, Kasungu. In Kasungu. Yeah, Mala.
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WK : Au Malawi, à Kasungu.
00:46
CA: OK. Now, you're 19 now?
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CA : OK. Vous avez 19 ans?
00:49
WK: Yeah. I'm 19 years now.
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WK : Oui, j'ai 19 ans maintenant.
00:51
CA: Five years ago you had an idea. What was that?
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CA : Il y a 5 ans, vous avez eu une idée. C'était quoi?
00:54
WK: I wanted to make a windmill.
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WK : Je voulais fabriquer un moulin à vent.
00:56
CA: A windmill?
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CA : Un moulin à vent?
00:57
WK: Yeah.
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WK : Oui.
00:58
CA: What, to power -- for lighting and stuff?
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CA : Pourquoi, pour avoir de l'énergie, pour de l'éclairage, et des choses comme ça?
01:02
WK: Yeah.
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WK : Oui.
01:04
CA: So what did you do? How did you realize that?
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CA : Alors qu'avez-vous fait? Comment avez-vous réalisé ça?
01:07
WK: After I dropped out of school, I went to library,
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WK : Quand j'ai abandonné l'école, je suis allé à la bibliothèque,
01:11
and I read a book that would -- "Using Energy,"
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et j'ai lu un livre : « Utiliser l'énergie »
01:15
and I get information about doing the mill.
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et j'ai trouvé les informations pour fabriquer le moulin.
01:18
And I tried, and I made it.
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Et j'ai essayé et je l'ai fabriqué.
01:20
(Applause)
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(Applaudissements)
01:30
CA: So you copied -- you exactly copied the design in the book.
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CA : Vous avez donc copié, vous avez copié exactement le dessin du livre.
01:34
WK: Ah, no. I just --
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WK : Ah, non, j'ai juste ...
01:36
CA: What happened?
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CA : Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé?
01:38
WK: In fact, a design of the windmill that was in the book,
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WK : En fait, un dessin du moulin qui était dans le livre,
01:42
it has got four -- ah -- three blades,
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il a 4, heu, 3 pales,
01:46
and mine has got four blades.
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et le mien a 4 pales.
01:49
CA: The book had three, yours had four.
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CA : Le livre en a 3, le vôtre en a 4.
01:51
WK: Yeah.
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WK : Oui.
01:52
CA: And you made it out of what?
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CA : Et vous l'avez fait en quoi?
01:54
WK: I made four blades, just because I want to increase power.
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WK : J'ai fait 4 pales, parce que je voulais augmenter la puissance.
01:59
CA: OK.
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CA : OK.
02:00
WK: Yeah.
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WK : Oui.
02:01
CA: You tested three, and found that four worked better?
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CA : Vous avez essayé avec 3, et avez trouvé que c'était mieux avec 4?
02:03
WK: Yeah. I test.
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WK : Oui, j'ai testé.
02:05
CA: And what did you make the windmill out of?
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CA : Et en quoi avez-vous fabriqué le moulin?
02:08
What materials did you use?
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Quels matériaux avez-vous utilisé?
02:10
WK: I use a bicycle frame, and a pulley, and plastic pipe, what then pulls --
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WK : J'ai employé un cadre de vélo, et une poulie, et un tuyau en plastique, qui ensuite tire,
02:16
CA: Do we have a picture of that? Can we have the next slide?
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CA : Est-ce qu'on a une photo? On peut avoir la diapo suivante?
02:19
WK: Yeah. The windmill.
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WK : Oui, le moulin.
02:21
CA: And so, and that windmill, what -- it worked?
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CA : Et donc, et ce moulin, il fonctionnait?
02:25
WK: When the wind blows, it rotates and generates.
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WK : Quand le vent souffle, il tourne et il génère.
02:30
CA: How much electricity?
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CA : Combien d'électricité?
02:31
WK: 12 watts.
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WK : 12 watts.
02:33
CA: And so, that lit a light for the house? How many lights?
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CA : Et donc, ça a allumé une lumière pour la maison? Combien de lumières?
02:38
WK: Four bulbs and two radios.
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WK : 4 ampoules et deux radios.
02:40
CA: Wow.
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CA : Wouah.
02:41
WK: Yeah.
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WK : Oui.
02:42
(Applause) CA: Next slide --
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(Applaudissements) CA : Diapo suivante,
02:52
so who's that?
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qui est-ce ?
02:54
WK: This is my parents, holding the radio.
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WK : Ce sont mes parents, qui tiennent la radio.
02:57
CA: So what did they make of -- that you were 14, 15 at the time --
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CA : Comment ont-ils réagi, vous aviez 14 ou 15 ans à l'époque,
03:01
what did they make of this? They were impressed?
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qu'en ont-ils pensé? Ils étaient impressionnés?
03:04
WK: Yeah.
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WK : Oui.
03:05
CA: And so what's your -- what are you going to do with this?
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CA : Et alors qu'allez-vous en faire?
03:07
WK: Um --
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WK : Heu ...
03:09
CA: What do you -- I mean -- do you want to build another one?
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CA : Qu'allez-vous ..., vous voulez en construire un autre?
03:13
WK: Yeah, I want to build another one --
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WK : Oui, je veux en construire un autre,
03:16
to pump water and irrigation for crops.
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pour pomper de l'eau et irriguer les cultures.
03:21
CA: So this one would have to be bigger?
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CA : Alors il faudra qu'il soit plus grand?
03:23
WK: Yeah.
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WK : Oui.
03:24
CA: How big?
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CA : Grand comment?
03:25
WK: I think it will produce more than 20 the watts.
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WK : Je pense qu'il produira plus de 20 watts.
03:31
CA: So that would produce irrigation for the entire village?
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CA : Ça fournirait de l'irrigation pour le village entier?
03:35
WK: Yeah.
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WK : Oui.
03:37
CA: Wow. And so you're talking to people here at TED
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CA : Wouah. Et donc vous parlez aux gens ici à TED
03:40
to get people who might be able to help in some way
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pour convaincre des gens de vous aider d'une manière ou d'une autre
03:44
to realize this dream?
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à réaliser ce rêve?
03:46
WK: Yeah, if they can help me with materials, yeah.
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WK : Oui, s'ils peuvent m'aider pour les matériaux, oui.
03:50
CA: And as you think of your life going forward,
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CA : Et quand vous pensez à l'avenir,
03:53
you're 19 now,
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vous avez 19 ans maintenant,
03:56
do you picture continuing with this dream of working in energy?
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vous imaginez que vous aller poursuivre ce rêve de travailler dans l'énergie?
04:00
WK: Yeah. I'm still thinking to work on energy.
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WK : Oui, je pense encore travailler dans l'énergie.
04:05
CA: Wow. William, it's a real honor to have you at the TED conference.
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CA : Wouah. William, c'est vraiment un honneur de vous avoir à la conférence TED.
04:09
Thank you so much for coming.
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Merci beaucoup d'être venu.
04:11
WK: Thank you.
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WK : Merci.
04:13
(Applause)
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(Applaudissements)
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