William Kamkwamba was not just tilting at windmills when he resolved to attack a very real adversary in his native village near Malawi, Africa. Confronting the issue of poverty head-on, Kamkwamba, aged 14 at the time, embarked on a seemingly quixotic task – constructing a windmill out of junkyard scraps.
Kamkwamba, author of “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” was the inspirational guest speaker at The Learning Alliance Gala last Monday evening at the Vero Beach Museum of Art. Roughly 250 teachers, school administrators, philanthropists, volunteers and community leaders had been invited to celebrate “The Power of the Moonshot Moment Journey: 2018 and Beyond.”
Guests gathered in the Buck Atrium for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, where they were entertained by the wonderful African musicians and dancers of Ozilly Connections before moving into the Holmes Great Hall for dinner catered by Elizabeth D. Kennedy & Co.
Now 29, Kamkwamba’s thirst for knowledge led him to the local library after famine struck his village and he was forced to drop out of school. Seeing windmills in a book, he was inspired to “create magic” by building “electric wind.” Villagers called him crazy, but his ingenuity and determination won out. His first makeshift windmill provided enough energy to run four lightbulbs and two radios, but that was just the start. Subsequent windmills and a solar-powered water pump that brought the first water to his village ensued, followed by world-wide fame, numerous appearances, a TED Talk and a documentary about his life. In 2014 Kamkwamba graduated from Dartmouth College.
Just like Kamkwamba, whose dreams of a better life put him on a path to a journey beyond even his wildest imaginings, the dreams of three parents have since developed into a county-wide initiative now drawing the attention of an entire nation.
A video presentation highlighted the many accomplishments over the six-year journey toward the Moonshot Moment goal of achieving 90 percent literacy by third grade by 2018 through effective TLC leadership, led by co-founders Barbara Hammond, Liz Woody and Ray Oglethorpe; a partnership with the IRC School District, led by former Superintendent Fran Adams and current Superintendent Mark Rendell; philanthropic support led by generous founders; and collaborations with numerous other agencies and nonprofits.
Hammond shared that she recently had occasion to look up the word abracadabra and found that it means, “with my words I create.”
“What we’re learning is that if we are willing to put a wish out there and declare our intentions, that we can create the things that we thought were impossible. This journey is a lifelong journey and the power is in this room right now. The magic is right here.”
“It does take a village to make the change that we are doing right now,” said VBMA CEO Lucinda Gedeon. “We at the museum are so, so pleased to partner with The Learning Alliance and the School District and the other literary leaders. We’re part of the process, all of us in this room. Working together, anything goes.”
“We in Indian River County have taken on the responsibility of fixing the problem. We’re focused on fixing big, big problems,” said Oglethorpe. He, Hammond and Woody recently made a presentation in Washington, D.C. to leading educators and researchers around the country, and he said the response was tremendous. “I’m so proud of this community for not allowing these children to fail. We really do have a chance to become the literacy capital of the United States.”
