William Kamkwamba's The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba, modern concepts such as government and deforestation had negative effects on the lives of the people in William’s community. While government works such as ADMARC and ESCOM have potential to be beneficial to William’s community, in practice, the government does not make them accessible enough to William’s people; thus, they do not serve much use. Furthermore, the government is corrupt, exacerbating the issue: “President Muluzi’s people had sold all our surplus grain for profit … Millions of kwacha were missing, and no one in the government was taking responsibility” (87). The government is keeping these resources for themselves as opposed to making them available to the people. Government,

a distinct feature of modernity, in this case, improperly regulates access to crucial resources, causing the people of Malawi to become more poor and hungry. Similarly, deforestation, a common effect of modernization, caused more problems for William’s community. Deforestation is a phenomenon that in these circumstances occurs when large tree covers are cleared in order to supply the growing demand for wood. As societies modernize, the growing population needs to be supplied with a growing supply of resources like wood to cook and build homes, causing trees to be cleared in large quantities, having a significant effect on the environment. In the following passage, William explains, “Without the trees, the rains turn to floods and wash away the soil and its minerals … clogging up the dams with silt and trash and shutting down the turbine… which in turn causes power cuts. And because this process is so expensive, the power company has to charge extra for electricity, making it even more difficult to afford. (82). Firstly, deforestation causes resources like electricity, which would allow the people of William’s community to be efficient because working hours would be lengthened by light, to be even less accessible to the people of William’s community. Additionally, deforestation causes floods because of the lack of tree cover, which means that fertilizer and seeds wash away, impeding the maize from growing, which in turn causes people to get hungry and lose money. Evidently, the modern features of government and deforestation, have overall negative effects on William’s community, causing the people to become more poor and hungry.