TEDGlobal 2007
William Kamkwamba: How I built a windmill
William Kamkwamba sobre a construção de um moinho de vento
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Quando ele tinha apenas 14 anos, o inventor Malauiano William Kamkwamba construiu, para a sua família, um moinho de vento gerador de electricidade, a partir de peças sobressalentes, e trabalhando a partir de planos grosseiros de um livro de biblioteca.
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: Olá William. É bom ver-te.
00:31
William Kamkwamba: Thanks.
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William Kamkwamba: Obrigado.
00:32
CA: So, we've got a picture, I think? Where is this?
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CA: Bem, temos uma fotografia, não temos? Onde é isto?
00:37
WK: This is my home. This is where I live.
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WK: Esta é a minha casa. É aqui que eu vivo.
00:41
CA: Where? What country?
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CA: Onde? Em que país?
00:43
WK: In Malawi, Kasungu. In Kasungu. Yeah, Mala.
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WK: No Malauí, Kasungu. Em Kasungu. Sim. Malauí.
00:46
CA: OK. Now, you're 19 now?
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CA: OK. Agora, tens 19 anos?
00:49
WK: Yeah. I'm 19 years now.
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WK: Sim, tenho 19 anos.
00:51
CA: Five years ago you had an idea. What was that?
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CA: Há cinco anos atrás tiveste uma ideia. O que foi?
00:54
WK: I wanted to make a windmill.
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WK: Quero fazer um moinho de vento.
00:56
CA: A windmill?
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CA: Um moinho de vento?
00:57
WK: Yeah.
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WK: Sim.
00:58
CA: What, to power -- for lighting and stuff?
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CA: E então - o que é que - para gerar energia - para luz e coisas assim?
01:02
WK: Yeah.
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WK: Sim.
01:04
CA: So what did you do? How did you realize that?
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CA: E então, o que é que fizeste? Como é que realizaste isso?
01:07
WK: After I dropped out of school, I went to library,
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WK: Depois de ter desistido da escola, fui à biblioteca,
01:11
and I read a book that would -- "Using Energy,"
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e li um livro que -- "Usando Energia"
01:15
and I get information about doing the mill.
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e obtive informação sobre como fazer o moinho.
01:18
And I tried, and I made it.
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E tentei e fiz-lo.
01:20
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
01:30
CA: So you copied -- you exactly copied the design in the book.
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CA: Então copiaste - copiaste exactamente o desenho do livro.
01:34
WK: Ah, no. I just --
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WK: Ah, não. Eu só...
01:36
CA: What happened?
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CA: O que é que aconteceu?
01:38
WK: In fact, a design of the windmill that was in the book,
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WK: Na verdade, o desenho do moinho de vento que estava no livro,
01:42
it has got four -- ah -- three blades,
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tem quatro -- três lâminas,
01:46
and mine has got four blades.
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e o meu tem quatro lâminas.
01:49
CA: The book had three, yours had four.
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CA: O livro tem três, o teu tem quatro.
01:51
WK: Yeah.
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WK: Sim.
01:52
CA: And you made it out of what?
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CA: E fizeste-o a partir de quê?
01:54
WK: I made four blades, just because I want to increase power.
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WK: Usei quatro lâminas só porque queria aumentar a potência.
01:59
CA: OK.
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CA: OK.
02:00
WK: Yeah.
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WK: Sim.
02:01
CA: You tested three, and found that four worked better?
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CA: Testaste três e achaste que quatro funcionava melhor?
02:03
WK: Yeah. I test.
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WK: Sim, testei.
02:05
CA: And what did you make the windmill out of?
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CA: E do que é que fizeste o moinho de vento?
02:08
What materials did you use?
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Que materiais usaste?
02:10
WK: I use a bicycle frame, and a pulley, and plastic pipe, what then pulls --
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WK: Usei o esqueleto de uma bicicleta, uma roldana, um tubo de plástico, que depois puxa...
02:16
CA: Do we have a picture of that? Can we have the next slide?
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CA: Temos uma fotografia disso? Podem passar ao próximo slide?
02:19
WK: Yeah. The windmill.
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WK: Sim. O moinho de vento.
02:21
CA: And so, and that windmill, what -- it worked?
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CA: E então, esse moinho de vento, o que é que -- funcionou?
02:25
WK: When the wind blows, it rotates and generates.
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WK: Quando o vento sopra, ele roda e gera.
02:30
CA: How much electricity?
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CA: Quanta electricidade?
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: E então, acendeu uma lâmpada na casa? Quantas luzes?
02:38
WK: Four bulbs and two radios.
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WK: Quatro lâmpadas e dois rádios.
02:40
CA: Wow.
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CA: Uau.
02:41
WK: Yeah.
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WK: Sim.
02:42
(Applause) CA: Next slide --
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CA: E então -- (Aplausos) -- próximo slide --
02:52
so who's that?
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quem são estes?
02:54
WK: This is my parents, holding the radio.
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WK: Estes são os meus pais a mostrar o radio.
02:57
CA: So what did they make of -- that you were 14, 15 at the time --
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CA: Então e o que é que eles acharam -- tinhas 14, 15 anos na altura --
03:01
what did they make of this? They were impressed?
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o que é que eles acharam disto? Ficaram impressionados?
03:04
WK: Yeah.
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WK: Sim.
03:05
CA: And so what's your -- what are you going to do with this?
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CA: Então e qual é o teu -- o que é que vais fazer com isto?
03:07
WK: Um --
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WK: aaa --
03:09
CA: What do you -- I mean -- do you want to build another one?
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CA: O que é que vais - quero dizer - queres construir outro?
03:13
WK: Yeah, I want to build another one --
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WK: Sim, quero construir outro --
03:16
to pump water and irrigation for crops.
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para bombear água e irrigar -- irrigação para agricultura.
03:21
CA: So this one would have to be bigger?
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CA: Então este vai ter de ser maior?
03:23
WK: Yeah.
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WK: Sim.
03:24
CA: How big?
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CA: De que tamanho?
03:25
WK: I think it will produce more than 20 the watts.
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WK: Acho que vai produzir mais do que 20 watts.
03:31
CA: So that would produce irrigation for the entire village?
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CA: E então isso produziria irrigação para a aldeia inteira?
03:35
WK: Yeah.
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WK: Sim.
03:37
CA: Wow. And so you're talking to people here at TED
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CA: Uau. E então e estás a falar com pessoas aqui na TED
03:40
to get people who might be able to help in some way
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para encontrar pessoas que possam ajudar de qualquer forma a --
03:44
to realize this dream?
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a realizar este sonho?
03:46
WK: Yeah, if they can help me with materials, yeah.
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WK: Sim, se puderem ajudar - com materiais, sim.
03:50
CA: And as you think of your life going forward,
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CA: E quando pensas na tua vida no futuro,
03:53
you're 19 now,
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tens 19 anos agora, pensas --
03:56
do you picture continuing with this dream of working in energy?
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pensas continuar com este sonho, a trabalhar com energia?
04:00
WK: Yeah. I'm still thinking to work on energy.
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WK: Sim. Estou a pensar trabalhar em energia.
04:05
CA: Wow. William, it's a real honor to have you at the TED conference.
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CA: Uau, William, é uma grande honra ter-te aqui na conferência TED.
04:09
Thank you so much for coming.
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Muito obrigado por teres vindo.
04:11
WK: Thank you.
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WK: Obrigado.
04:13
(Applause)
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(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