I’d like to tell you a story. You may have heard it before. It’s about an entrepreneur.

His passion was technology. He spent years struggling and even starving in the early going. The people around him thought him mad for the work he pursued. But he proved them all wrong and in the end achieved unimaginable wealth.

Do you know who it is?

It’s not Bill Gates. He had a garage to work in. He was lucky.

Not Steve Jobs. He had friends’ couches to sleep on. Luxury.

This is the story of William Kamkwamba, a young man from Malawi. His father was a farmer, and thus, William helped in the fields throughout his youth. One year the crops failed and famine struck his country. His family gradually had to reduce their food intake to one meal per day, just a few mouthfuls. They sold off possessions, all money going to feed the family. William had to drop out of school because they lacked the funds – about $80 US – to pay the school fees.

He began hanging out at the library – 3 shelves of random books donated by the US. Among the books he found Using Energy and saw a picture of a windmill. He decided to build one of his own. He used this book for guidance despite the fact that the book wasn’t even in his language.

Using scraps he found in a garbage yard he began to build. The people in his town, the other children, even his family thought he was crazy. He had no local Home Depot. He had to create his own screwdriver and wrenches. He had to build his own generator and circuit breaker and light switches. And he had to build a tower atop which he would place his windmill. And he did. He did all of that.

And he did it all by the age of 14.

The full story is told in his inspiring, tremendous book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. In the meantime you can get a flavor for his wonderful personality from his Daily Show appearance. We should all appreciate that heroes like William exist in this world.