A fun project, like massmouth, Adam Tessier, is doing Shakespeare in the street. His project is called ourdailysonnet.com Adam caught me after telling as Mary Read, pirate this Sunday, and I still have a bit of my makeup - a spot of soul patch "beard" on my chin. Husband, Robert listens in background. On this lovely Sunday afternoon we sat outside Toscanini's in Central Square, Cambridge.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
yes! First Boston story slam sells out room !
story slam kicked butt. Nice job everyone!
The room was packed, non-storytellers were there and told, the house was rocking!
Congratulations to massmouth and everyone who attended!
Laura P
What a night! Let's keep the momentum - onward to NOV 23rd ! Sleep beckons. More later!
The room was packed, non-storytellers were there and told, the house was rocking!
Congratulations to massmouth and everyone who attended!
Laura P
What a night! Let's keep the momentum - onward to NOV 23rd ! Sleep beckons. More later!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
3 conferences NOV 7+8
There are 3 conferences on connecting creators and performers to audience and each other on the weekend of NOV 7+8
in Boston: Creative Massachusetts: The Artists Congress 2009 – November 7-8
The C3 Project Conversation, Creativity, and Community:
A World Café to redefine our community Saturday, November 7, 2009 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
You are warmly invited to gather and explore the themes of Conversation, Creativity and Community. We will be working together to uncover new insights and possibilities for action in building a stronger creative community for everyone.
The Questions:
= Why don’t we know our neighbors any more?
= How do we engage people to want a better community?
= How can art and the creative experience be used to bring people together?
= How can a community empower itself to support the health, well being and interests of the diverse individuals who belong to it?
Come meet some new neighbors to explore what makes up an engaged, creative community of the future that finds value in all of its members. The Participants:
Artists, self-advocates, educators, activists, community builders and people from all walks of life and abilities interested in exploring these themes. This event will be a collaboration and catalyst for more dialogues and activities around common interests and needs in your home community.
in NYC:
AUDIENCE "If you want something from an audience, you give blood to their fantasies. It's the ultimate hustle." -Marlon Brando
http://audienceconf.com/ Audience.
NOV 6th in NYC 500 people Audience is a conference aimed at those who recognise the need to reach engage and influence audiences of all kinds, an investigation into how this is changing, and a look at how technology has in the past and is now, through new media tools and the social web, changing audience participation and interaction.
The speakers range from large traditional media organisations with Dan Farber of CBS, though the recording industry with Warner Bros. Music CTO Ethan Kaplan, advertising with Crayon's Joe Jaffe, HR and internal audiences with Frank Roche of iFractal and new media players like Mike Arrington of TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis of Mahalo, not to mention Musicians like Adam & Mia and Writers like the inimitable Andrew Keen of "Cult of the Amateur" fame with more being added all the time.
Engaging on November 6th in the Hudson Theatre, one of New York's oldest playhouses.
If you're interested in meeting with a diverse and knowledgable crowd and have a goal of understanding how the methods used to reach engage and influence audiences have changed and are changing. If you want to know the real business value of new tools and old tools in the battle to reach your audience, users or customers, then Audience conference is for you.
in Boston: Creative Massachusetts: The Artists Congress 2009 – November 7-8
Creative Massachusetts: The Artists Congress 2009 Welcoming Artists of All Disciplines to a Discussion of Our Creative Future November 7 & 8 at the Boston Public Library, Boston, MA Save the Dates Nov. 7 & 8 for “Creative Massachusetts: The Artists Congress 2009″ in Boston, MA Creative Massachusetts: The Artists Congress 2009 is presented by the Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition (MALC) and the Kirstein Business Branch of the Boston Public Library. This event is free and open to all Massachusetts artists of all disciplines. To receive more information about the event, please join the ArtistsUndertheDome.org’s free listserv at http://www.artistsunderthedome.org/contact.html, and look for updates here on the MALC blog:
in Worcester: the C3 ProjectThe C3 Project Conversation, Creativity, and Community:
A World Café to redefine our community Saturday, November 7, 2009 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
You are warmly invited to gather and explore the themes of Conversation, Creativity and Community. We will be working together to uncover new insights and possibilities for action in building a stronger creative community for everyone.
The Questions:
= Why don’t we know our neighbors any more?
= How do we engage people to want a better community?
= How can art and the creative experience be used to bring people together?
= How can a community empower itself to support the health, well being and interests of the diverse individuals who belong to it?
Come meet some new neighbors to explore what makes up an engaged, creative community of the future that finds value in all of its members. The Participants:
Artists, self-advocates, educators, activists, community builders and people from all walks of life and abilities interested in exploring these themes. This event will be a collaboration and catalyst for more dialogues and activities around common interests and needs in your home community.
in NYC:
AUDIENCE "If you want something from an audience, you give blood to their fantasies. It's the ultimate hustle." -Marlon Brando
http://audienceconf.com/ Audience.
NOV 6th in NYC 500 people Audience is a conference aimed at those who recognise the need to reach engage and influence audiences of all kinds, an investigation into how this is changing, and a look at how technology has in the past and is now, through new media tools and the social web, changing audience participation and interaction.
The speakers range from large traditional media organisations with Dan Farber of CBS, though the recording industry with Warner Bros. Music CTO Ethan Kaplan, advertising with Crayon's Joe Jaffe, HR and internal audiences with Frank Roche of iFractal and new media players like Mike Arrington of TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis of Mahalo, not to mention Musicians like Adam & Mia and Writers like the inimitable Andrew Keen of "Cult of the Amateur" fame with more being added all the time.
Engaging on November 6th in the Hudson Theatre, one of New York's oldest playhouses.
If you're interested in meeting with a diverse and knowledgable crowd and have a goal of understanding how the methods used to reach engage and influence audiences have changed and are changing. If you want to know the real business value of new tools and old tools in the battle to reach your audience, users or customers, then Audience conference is for you.
Friday, October 23, 2009
WFEE: Storytellers grips Muraco imaginations - Winchester, MA - The Winchester Star
Me from backstage. A fun pic in somewhat
disturbing demagogue-ish kinda way...
WFEE: Storyteller grips Muraco imaginations - Winchester, MA - The Winchester Star
Posted using ShareThis
AUDIENCE a conference in NY.NY on NOV 7TH
AUDIENCE
"If you want something from an audience, you give blood to their fantasies. It's the ultimate hustle." -Marlon Brando
I KNOW I will read bout it later http://audienceconf.com/ but ooooh to be a fly on the wall at the conference called Audience.
NOV 6th in NYC 500 people
Audience is a conference aimed at those who recognise the need to reach engage and influence audiences of all kinds, an investigation into how this is changing, and a look at how technology has in the past and is now, through new media tools and the social web, changing audience participation and interaction.
The speakers range from large traditional media organisations with Dan Farber of CBS, though the recording industry with Warner Bros. Music CTO Ethan Kaplan, advertising with Crayon's Joe Jaffe, HR and internal audiences with Frank Roche of iFractal and new media players like Mike Arrington of TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis of Mahalo, not to mention Musicians like Adam & Mia and Writers like the inimitable Andrew Keen of "Cult of the Amateur" fame with more being added all the time.
Engaging on November 6th in the Hudson Theatre, one of New York's oldest playhouses with a capacity of only 500, this will be an intimate gathering of fine minds in Manhattan. We felt it was appropriate to hold a conference that was about Audience in a place that was specifically designed for an audience.
If you're interested in meeting with a diverse and knowledgable crowd and have a goal of understanding how the methods used to reach engage and influence audiences have changed and are changing. If you want to know the real business value of new tools and old tools in the battle to reach your audience, users or customers, then Audience conference is for you.
"If you want something from an audience, you give blood to their fantasies. It's the ultimate hustle." -Marlon Brando
I KNOW I will read bout it later http://audienceconf.com/ but ooooh to be a fly on the wall at the conference called Audience.
NOV 6th in NYC 500 people
Audience is a conference aimed at those who recognise the need to reach engage and influence audiences of all kinds, an investigation into how this is changing, and a look at how technology has in the past and is now, through new media tools and the social web, changing audience participation and interaction.
The speakers range from large traditional media organisations with Dan Farber of CBS, though the recording industry with Warner Bros. Music CTO Ethan Kaplan, advertising with Crayon's Joe Jaffe, HR and internal audiences with Frank Roche of iFractal and new media players like Mike Arrington of TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis of Mahalo, not to mention Musicians like Adam & Mia and Writers like the inimitable Andrew Keen of "Cult of the Amateur" fame with more being added all the time.
Engaging on November 6th in the Hudson Theatre, one of New York's oldest playhouses with a capacity of only 500, this will be an intimate gathering of fine minds in Manhattan. We felt it was appropriate to hold a conference that was about Audience in a place that was specifically designed for an audience.
If you're interested in meeting with a diverse and knowledgable crowd and have a goal of understanding how the methods used to reach engage and influence audiences have changed and are changing. If you want to know the real business value of new tools and old tools in the battle to reach your audience, users or customers, then Audience conference is for you.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
“storyteller who writes...”
RIC hosted me a few weeks ago and I had a wonderful time. Shout out to Antoinette Gomes who arranged and guided me through the day. What a wonderful time.
Article below from RIC online:
MEd in TESL cooperating teachers
meet with award-winning author, storyteller Norah Dooley
By Liz Garofalo, Coordinator of Special Projects
Feinstein School of Education and Human Development
On Oct. 9, four MEd in TESL (teaching English as a second language) cooperating teachers attended a private book signing and discussion with Norah Dooley, famed New England author of “Everybody Bakes Bread” and “Everybody Cooks Rice.” The four were from the Pawtucket School District.
Karen Hammarstram, ESL coach, Leslie Pettingell of Potter-Burns School, Jackie Sisun of Henry J. Winters School, and Carol Hoppe of Elizabeth Baldwin School engaged in a lively dialogue with Dooley about their use of her stories in class as well as the incorporation of the books in their social studies content area and their connection to language and content objectives.
Dooley, a self proclaimed “storyteller who writes,” also told of the sources of inspiration for her work, her struggles and triumphs in writing and publishing, and the challenges she experienced as a teacher in a charter school.
The reception concluded with a book signing of the candidates’ favorite Dooley titles for their personal and school collections.
The book signing and discussion followed an all-morning Diversity Week event at the Henry Barnard School coordinated by the Unity Center, HBS Diversity Committee and the Feinstein School Office of Special Projects. Students in K-6 along with the cooperating teachers listened to Dooley’s energetic and informative talk about the writing process, participated in a read aloud, engaged in questions and answers and then selected homemade and donated breads from HBS parents and LaSalle and Colonial Bakeries.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Personal Narrative as performance - storytelling and slams
"The story was the San people’s (Bushman of the Kalahari) most sacred possession. These people knew what we do not; that without a story you have not got a nation, or culture, or civilization. Without a story of your own, you haven’t got a life of your own." —Laurens Van der Post
This is why we are working hard to make a story slam work in Boston. We ( the organizers at massmouth ) want everyone to be alive to the possibilities in the narrative of their own lives. And we love the art that is created when those possibilities are explored in live storytelling. The slam aspect seems to bring more serious attention to the performance - and this is a good thing. When you perform, your intention is to communicate but your attention must be on the audience - what are you giving them? Do you know why you care about the story you are telling? Then we have a chance to care about your story too.
I like to tell my storytelling students ( grades K- 12 ) that their story has to answer the 5 Ws - Who, What, When, Where and.... I draw out the " Why" and separate it from the rest of the Qs. We show the answers to the 4 Ws with details and experience. AND The whole story should answer the question "why?" without being explicit. I tell my young students that if the audience does not know why they just listened and why they should care? Your story is not "cooked" yet. And you need to go back to the kitchen of imagination and adjust. Maybe it is seasoning that is missing? Maybe it is a key ingredient? AND you may realize that you must to start all over from scratch when you see that your story idea is a hors d'œuvre and you thought to serve it as a main course? Or maybe you thought your story was a delectable confection, suitable for dessert and really? It is a main course and more savory than not. These are just some things we discover when we tell our story over and over. BUT we must have some idea, at least one intention before we ask others to listen in performance. We will continue to discover meaning and deepen our understanding and the meaning constantly evolves with the telling. - but if we are serving the story? It must feed our audience. Cook before serving!
This is why we are working hard to make a story slam work in Boston. We ( the organizers at massmouth ) want everyone to be alive to the possibilities in the narrative of their own lives. And we love the art that is created when those possibilities are explored in live storytelling. The slam aspect seems to bring more serious attention to the performance - and this is a good thing. When you perform, your intention is to communicate but your attention must be on the audience - what are you giving them? Do you know why you care about the story you are telling? Then we have a chance to care about your story too.
I like to tell my storytelling students ( grades K- 12 ) that their story has to answer the 5 Ws - Who, What, When, Where and.... I draw out the " Why" and separate it from the rest of the Qs. We show the answers to the 4 Ws with details and experience. AND The whole story should answer the question "why?" without being explicit. I tell my young students that if the audience does not know why they just listened and why they should care? Your story is not "cooked" yet. And you need to go back to the kitchen of imagination and adjust. Maybe it is seasoning that is missing? Maybe it is a key ingredient? AND you may realize that you must to start all over from scratch when you see that your story idea is a hors d'œuvre and you thought to serve it as a main course? Or maybe you thought your story was a delectable confection, suitable for dessert and really? It is a main course and more savory than not. These are just some things we discover when we tell our story over and over. BUT we must have some idea, at least one intention before we ask others to listen in performance. We will continue to discover meaning and deepen our understanding and the meaning constantly evolves with the telling. - but if we are serving the story? It must feed our audience. Cook before serving!
Friday, October 16, 2009
what I am up to...story slam on OCT 26th 2009
We knew we had to bring the mouthoffs inside and that Toscis was kind to let us take over on the odd MON but we couldn't really grow and be fair to their clientele. So, we were looking for a place for October when we got, well, ambitious? And some surprisingly good things evolved...this just in, The next slam dates are set --NOV 23rd and DEC 14th same place and same time.
"...because you have a mouth, you have a story..."
massmouth challenges all comers to bring their stories to their first story slam on October 26th at 7pm. "...because you have a mouth, you have a story..." and you can be a part of a new story scene right in the center of Boston at "Kennedy's Midtown www.kennedysmidtown.com at 42 Province Street, upstairs.
What is a story slam ? Based on a poetry slam format and simila r to American Idol, a story slam is a contest of words by known and undiscovered talent. Like the Moth, who will visit this month at the Tsai center, massmouth posts a theme on it's website (www.massmouth.ning.com) and story slammers will sign up on the night to tell a 5-minute short story on the evening's theme. Ten lucky tellers will be picked at random and other audience members may be drawn to can join in on a judging team. Like the famous Moth story slams in NYC, there will be 3 teams of 3 judges. Unlike the Moth, each set of 5 stories will begin with a short-short feature by one of the judges. Listeners will be engaged in story improv games and other interactive entertainments between each 5 minute feature.
Each of the featured 5 minute stories is judged on how well it is told, how well it is constructed and how well it honors the time limit and relates to the theme. The 3 highest-scoring tellers are awarded prizes and an opportunity to perform at the "the big mouthoff" venue and date TBA. Prizes will be awarded at each slam. There is a $5.00 cover and a one drink minimum. This month's story slam theme is "scared to death ". Plan on a night of live story and tales of fear, terror and dread, which may be supernatural or real as mud.
For details, rules and future slam dates: Norah Dooley c. 617-460-3544 add in your cell ? for who ever wants calls...
The 23rd Psalm according to Goldman Sachs
The 23rd Psalm
according to Goldman Sachs from http://www.garynorth.com/
The FED is my shepherd; I shall not
want.
It maketh me to lie down in green
shootsdom: it leadeth me beside the
still Lehman.
It restoreth my credit: it leadeth me
down the paths of leverage for its
name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of debt, I will fear no
bankruptcy.
For thou art with me; thy TARP and thy
TALF they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in
the presence of politicians.
Thou anointest my balance sheet with
digits; my bonuses runneth over.
Surely profits and influence shall
follow me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of the
FED for ever.
amen
according to Goldman Sachs from http://www.garynorth.com/
The FED is my shepherd; I shall not
want.
It maketh me to lie down in green
shootsdom: it leadeth me beside the
still Lehman.
It restoreth my credit: it leadeth me
down the paths of leverage for its
name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of debt, I will fear no
bankruptcy.
For thou art with me; thy TARP and thy
TALF they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in
the presence of politicians.
Thou anointest my balance sheet with
digits; my bonuses runneth over.
Surely profits and influence shall
follow me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of the
FED for ever.
amen
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Ig Nobel Prizes 2009
.jpg)
Gas mask bra traps Ig Nobel prize
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News
newsimg.bbc.co.uk/00507F90.jpg
The bra converts into a mask for the wearer and one for a needy bystander
Designers of a bra that turns into gas masks and a team who found that named cows produce more milk were among the winners of the 2009 Ig Nobel prizes.
The aim of the awards is to honour achievements that "first make people laugh and then make them think".
The peace prize went to a Swiss research team who determined whether it is better to be hit over the head with a full or empty bottle of beer.
The ceremony was organised by the magazine Annals of Improbable Research.
Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson from the agriculture, food and rural development department of Newcastle University were the only UK recipients.
newsimg.bbc.co.uk/21397751.jpg
Catherine Douglas was "thrilled" with her award
Dr Douglas, who was unable to attend the ceremony held at Harvard University in Cambridge, US, told BBC News that she was "thrilled" to have been selected and was a "big fan of the Ig Nobel awards".
She said that discovering cows with names were more prolific milk-producers emerged during research into improving dairy cow welfare.
The overall aim of the study was to reduce stress and fear by improving "the human-animal relationship".
"[This research] showed that the majority of UK dairy farmers are caring individuals who respect and love their herd," she said.
Dr Douglas dedicated the award to Purslane, Wendy and Tina - "the nicest cows I have ever known".
Risky celebrations
The Ig Nobel Prizes were presented to the winners by genuine Nobel laureates.
Dr Elena Bodnar won the public health prize for the bra that, in an emergency, can be converted into two gas masks.
She demonstrated her invention and gave one to each of the Nobel laureates as a gift.
Professor Martin Chalfie, who won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 2008, was this year's prize in the "win a date with a Nobel laureate" contest.
Past winners also returned to take part in the celebrations. They included Kees Moeliker, the discoverer of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck, and Dr Francis Fesmire, who devised the digital rectal massage as cure for intractable hiccups.
newsimg.bbc.co.uk/2B6861D7.jpg
The prize for mathematics went to the governor of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank
Each new winner was permitted a maximum of 60 seconds to deliver an acceptance speech. The time limit was enforced by an intractable eight-year-old girl.
The evening also featured numerous tributes to the evening's theme of "Risk".
A 15-minute risk cabaret concert by the Penny-Wise Guys preceded the ceremony, during which the band paid special tribute to fraudster Bernie Madoff.
Appropriately, the prize for economics went to the executives of four Icelandic banks.
The governor of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank received the prize for mathematics for printing bank notes with such a wide range of denominations.
The full list of winners:
Veterinary medicine: Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University, UK, for showing that cows with names give more milk than cows that are nameless.
Peace: Stephan Bolliger, Steffen Ross, Lars Oesterhelweg, Michael Thali and Beat Kneubuehl of the University of Bern, Switzerland, for determining whether it is better to be smashed over the head with a full bottle of beer or with an empty bottle.
Biology: Fumiaki Taguchi, Song Guofu and Zhang Guanglei of Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Sagamihara, Japan, for demonstrating that kitchen refuse can be reduced more than 90% in mass by using bacteria extracted from the faeces of giant pandas.
Medicine: Donald L Unger of Thousand Oaks, California, US, for investigating a possible cause of arthritis of the fingers, by diligently cracking the knuckles of his left hand but not his right hand every day for more than 60 years.
Economics: The directors, executives, and auditors of four Icelandic banks for demonstrating that tiny banks can be rapidly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa (and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy).
Physics: Katherine K Whitcome of the University of Cincinnati, Daniel E Lieberman of Harvard University and Liza J Shapiro of the University of Texas, all in the US, for analytically determining why pregnant women do not tip over.
Chemistry: Javier Morales, Miguel Apatiga and Victor M Castano of Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico, for creating diamonds from tequila.
Literature: Ireland's police service for writing and presenting more than 50 traffic tickets to the most frequent driving offender in the country - Prawo Jazdy - whose name in Polish means "Driving Licence".
Public Health: Elena N Bodnar, Raphael C Lee, and Sandra Marijan of Chicago, US, for inventing a bra that can be quickly converted into a pair of gas masks - one for the wearer and one to be given to a needy bystander.
Mathematics: Gideon Gono, governor of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank, for giving people a simple, everyday way to cope with a wide range of numbers by having his bank print notes with denominations ranging from one cent to one hundred trillion dollars.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
A story about technology expressing human dreams, instead of nightmares...
from the blog Gizmodo and Stu Mendleson
By Rosa Golijan, Wed Sep 30 2009
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence, and William Kamkwamba has it in spades. At age fourteen, while many of us were sneaking out of classrooms, William was struggling to sneak into them—his family was unable to afford the $80 annual tuition. As is bound to happen to most students, he was caught. But instead of being sent to detention, he was barred from the school. In a show of the driven man he would become, he didn't allow that to hinder him and instead started spending his days in the local library. While there, he encountered a book called Using Energy:
Using Energy described how windmills could be used to generate electricity. Only two percent of Malawians have electricity, and the service is notoriously unreliable. William decided an electric windmill was something he wanted to make. Illuminating his house and the other houses in his village would mean that people could read at night after work. A windmill to pump water would mean that they could grow two crops a year rather than one, grow vegetable gardens, and not have to spend two hours a day hauling water. "A windmill meant more than just power," he wrote, "it was freedom."
This book is what changed his life. And I don't mean that as an exaggeration. It was truly what made a difference in his life. Because of that book, and the potential he saw in its ideas, William began to build:
William scoured trash bins and junkyards for materials he could use to build his windmill. With only a couple of wrenches at his disposal, and unable to afford even nuts and bolts, he collected things that most people would consider garbage-slime-clogged plastic pipes, a broken bicycle, a discarded tractor fan-and assembled them into a wind-powered dynamo. For a soldering iron, he used a stiff piece of wire heated in a fire. A bent bicycle spoke served as a size adapter for his wrenches.
Imagine that. A young boy being so motivated by ideas and the sheer need to build something life-changing that he discovered materials and uses for them which most of us wouldn't even dream of. As Mark Frauenfelder put it:
For an educated adult living in a developed nation, designing and building a wind turbine that generates electricity is something to be proud of. For a half-starved, uneducated boy living in a country plagued with drought, famine, poverty, disease, a cruelly corrupt government, crippling superstitions, and low expectations, it's another thing altogether. It's nothing short of monumental.
After completing his first windmill, William "went on to wire his house with four light bulbs and two radios, installing switches made from rubber sandals, and scratch-building a circuit breaker to keep the thatch roof of his house from catching fire." His project had the attention of village locals early on, but at this point he gained the attention of TED, Technology Entertainment Design, through whom he was introduced to individuals willing to contribute to his plans to "electrify, irrigate, and educate his village, as well as pay his tuition at the prestigious African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg."
In short: A young man struggled to educate himself, to build something his village needed, and in the end made a difference to the entire locale and gained the education he'd always wanted. Yes, it's a fluffy, feel-good story with a happy ending. What should you take from the it? Maybe that there's hope in the bleakest of situations, maybe that your teachers and parents were right about the power of education, maybe just that I'm a sappy bookworm with a soft spot for happy endings. No matter, if you wish to learn more, you can read the recently released The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, check out William's blog, or peek at this video from before he ever wrote his autobiography.
and a TED talk:
By Rosa Golijan, Wed Sep 30 2009
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence, and William Kamkwamba has it in spades. At age fourteen, while many of us were sneaking out of classrooms, William was struggling to sneak into them—his family was unable to afford the $80 annual tuition. As is bound to happen to most students, he was caught. But instead of being sent to detention, he was barred from the school. In a show of the driven man he would become, he didn't allow that to hinder him and instead started spending his days in the local library. While there, he encountered a book called Using Energy:
Using Energy described how windmills could be used to generate electricity. Only two percent of Malawians have electricity, and the service is notoriously unreliable. William decided an electric windmill was something he wanted to make. Illuminating his house and the other houses in his village would mean that people could read at night after work. A windmill to pump water would mean that they could grow two crops a year rather than one, grow vegetable gardens, and not have to spend two hours a day hauling water. "A windmill meant more than just power," he wrote, "it was freedom."
This book is what changed his life. And I don't mean that as an exaggeration. It was truly what made a difference in his life. Because of that book, and the potential he saw in its ideas, William began to build:
William scoured trash bins and junkyards for materials he could use to build his windmill. With only a couple of wrenches at his disposal, and unable to afford even nuts and bolts, he collected things that most people would consider garbage-slime-clogged plastic pipes, a broken bicycle, a discarded tractor fan-and assembled them into a wind-powered dynamo. For a soldering iron, he used a stiff piece of wire heated in a fire. A bent bicycle spoke served as a size adapter for his wrenches.
Imagine that. A young boy being so motivated by ideas and the sheer need to build something life-changing that he discovered materials and uses for them which most of us wouldn't even dream of. As Mark Frauenfelder put it:
For an educated adult living in a developed nation, designing and building a wind turbine that generates electricity is something to be proud of. For a half-starved, uneducated boy living in a country plagued with drought, famine, poverty, disease, a cruelly corrupt government, crippling superstitions, and low expectations, it's another thing altogether. It's nothing short of monumental.
After completing his first windmill, William "went on to wire his house with four light bulbs and two radios, installing switches made from rubber sandals, and scratch-building a circuit breaker to keep the thatch roof of his house from catching fire." His project had the attention of village locals early on, but at this point he gained the attention of TED, Technology Entertainment Design, through whom he was introduced to individuals willing to contribute to his plans to "electrify, irrigate, and educate his village, as well as pay his tuition at the prestigious African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg."
In short: A young man struggled to educate himself, to build something his village needed, and in the end made a difference to the entire locale and gained the education he'd always wanted. Yes, it's a fluffy, feel-good story with a happy ending. What should you take from the it? Maybe that there's hope in the bleakest of situations, maybe that your teachers and parents were right about the power of education, maybe just that I'm a sappy bookworm with a soft spot for happy endings. No matter, if you wish to learn more, you can read the recently released The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, check out William's blog, or peek at this video from before he ever wrote his autobiography.
and a TED talk:
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