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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
Morning read-aloud. What a great true story. The kids really were engaged with Kamkwamba's story of his difficult chilhood in Malawi, including famine, death, and poverty, and his self - taught science education the led to his building a windmill to power his home. Eventually ousiders heard of Kamkwamba and invited him to give a TED talk, which led to even more opportunities for Kamkwamba, his family, and village. This book sparked many great conversations and will for sure go on the "keeper" shelf.
대부분의 사람들은 세상의 물결에 떠밀려 가며 산다. 그 과정에서 희망과 의지와 방향을 잃는 게 다반사다. 그러나 말라위의 윌리엄 캄쾀바 소년은 그 물결 속에서 끝까지 포기하지 않고 노력해 마침내 물결을 바꾸는 데 성공했다.
책에 묘사된 아프리카 기아의 참상과 그것을 외면하는 관료의 부패는 언제쯤 개선될 것인가? 기성세대에게 희망을 걸기는 어렵겠지만, 윌리암과 같은 청년이 계속 나타나는 한 언젠가는 그 거대한 탁류의 흐름도 결국 멈출 수 있을 것 이다.
학교 성적에 급급해 하는 우리나라의 모든 청소년과 그 부모가 이 책을 꼭 한번 읽고 시야를 넓힐 수 있기 바란다.
책에 묘사된 아프리카 기아의 참상과 그것을 외면하는 관료의 부패는 언제쯤 개선될 것인가? 기성세대에게 희망을 걸기는 어렵겠지만, 윌리암과 같은 청년이 계속 나타나는 한 언젠가는 그 거대한 탁류의 흐름도 결국 멈출 수 있을 것 이다.
학교 성적에 급급해 하는 우리나라의 모든 청소년과 그 부모가 이 책을 꼭 한번 읽고 시야를 넓힐 수 있기 바란다.
It’s an inspiring story intended for a younger audience. I read this to see if it would be a good choice for my school to use for One Book, One Book. I felt like it took awhile to get to the point though and was dry at times.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
This is the inspiring story of a Malawian boy, who, in a desire to stay and school and stave off another famine, builds a windmill to pull water from his parents well and water their fields. William Kamkwamba, was 14 when he experienced the worst famine in his country’s history. It was difficult to read as their food ran out, and how they were getting thinner and thinner. What many families were reduced to, and how they with his parents ingenuity were able to survive.
Most of this story has nothing to do with the windmill William built. It mostly covers how poor and rural his life was before building the windmill. Malawi is a small country, one of the smallest in Africa, relying on a maize crop once a year. Even if the crop goes well, much of the country subsists on very little food for several months until the crop comes in. William’s parents were farmers and much of their story as well as the story of the village is told by William. This background and story take up much of the book, making the idea of the windmill that much more inspiring. William had little formal education, having to drop out due to lack of funds. Going to the school library every day, he checked out books to keep up on his education. He became interested in how things worked and wind power. He sees kids riding their bicycles with a light powered by a dynamo. He becomes fascinated with how they work and electricity. He figures out how to make a generator from it to generate power to his radio. He then begins to think bigger and finds a way to generate power from the wind. His project gets bigger and bigger until he creates his own windmill that helps his family.
Most of this narrative is very gripping. The famine is a harrowing and humbling experience, a sharp contrast of my everyday life. However, he spends a great deal of time on this narrative, even though fascinating, once William becomes famous and gets notoriety, the story seems to lose steam. It seems the moment William discovers he can create a windmill that could draw water from a well, it drives the narrative. However, when he actually creates a way to do this, it receives little attention in the book. I found that a little puzzling. It’s also amazing how with his local library, he was able to discover and create something so amazing, the local population thought it was magic.
favorite passages:
"I couldn't blame my father for the famine or our troubles. But for the next week I couldn't look him in the eyes. Whenever I did, I saw the rest of my life."
"My greatest fear was coming true: I would end up just like him, another poor Malawian farmer laboring in the soil. Thin and dirty, with hands as rough as animal hides and feet that knew no shoes. I loved my father and respected him deeply, but I did not want to end up like him. If I did, my life would never be determined by me, but by rain and the price of fertilizer and seeds. I would do what every Malawian was supposed to do, what was written by God and the constitution: I would grow maize, and if I was lucky, maybe a little tobacco. And years when the crops were good and there was a little extra to see, perhaps I could buy some medicine and a new pair of shoes. But most of the time, I knew, there would be hardly enough to simply survive. My future had been chosen, and thinking about it now scared me so much I wanted to be sick. But what could I do? Nothing only accept. p. 183"
Most of this story has nothing to do with the windmill William built. It mostly covers how poor and rural his life was before building the windmill. Malawi is a small country, one of the smallest in Africa, relying on a maize crop once a year. Even if the crop goes well, much of the country subsists on very little food for several months until the crop comes in. William’s parents were farmers and much of their story as well as the story of the village is told by William. This background and story take up much of the book, making the idea of the windmill that much more inspiring. William had little formal education, having to drop out due to lack of funds. Going to the school library every day, he checked out books to keep up on his education. He became interested in how things worked and wind power. He sees kids riding their bicycles with a light powered by a dynamo. He becomes fascinated with how they work and electricity. He figures out how to make a generator from it to generate power to his radio. He then begins to think bigger and finds a way to generate power from the wind. His project gets bigger and bigger until he creates his own windmill that helps his family.
Most of this narrative is very gripping. The famine is a harrowing and humbling experience, a sharp contrast of my everyday life. However, he spends a great deal of time on this narrative, even though fascinating, once William becomes famous and gets notoriety, the story seems to lose steam. It seems the moment William discovers he can create a windmill that could draw water from a well, it drives the narrative. However, when he actually creates a way to do this, it receives little attention in the book. I found that a little puzzling. It’s also amazing how with his local library, he was able to discover and create something so amazing, the local population thought it was magic.
favorite passages:
"I couldn't blame my father for the famine or our troubles. But for the next week I couldn't look him in the eyes. Whenever I did, I saw the rest of my life."
"My greatest fear was coming true: I would end up just like him, another poor Malawian farmer laboring in the soil. Thin and dirty, with hands as rough as animal hides and feet that knew no shoes. I loved my father and respected him deeply, but I did not want to end up like him. If I did, my life would never be determined by me, but by rain and the price of fertilizer and seeds. I would do what every Malawian was supposed to do, what was written by God and the constitution: I would grow maize, and if I was lucky, maybe a little tobacco. And years when the crops were good and there was a little extra to see, perhaps I could buy some medicine and a new pair of shoes. But most of the time, I knew, there would be hardly enough to simply survive. My future had been chosen, and thinking about it now scared me so much I wanted to be sick. But what could I do? Nothing only accept. p. 183"
inspiring
Truly an inspiring story, but the execution of the book makes the second half incredibly dull and boring to read, a shame really!
informative
inspiring
This was a really inspiring story which I really enjoyed reading. My mother grew up in Malawi, so it was fascinating to hear about the culture and atmosphere there. I’d really recommend this book. To hear about a person who had an idea and was able to build so much from purely what they found in a scrapyard was so enlightening.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced