The Malawian Connection

So I just realized that my post about Malawi and my post about William Kamkwamba are both about Malawi, coincidentally.

Herein lies my point about perceptions about Africa.  Which story garners international headlines? Madonna adopts a baby orphan from Malawi, not, the boy genius of one of the poorest countries in the world.  Thus you have a country, Malawi, which becomes known more for its poverty and orphans, than any kind of ingenuity or creativity. There are over one million orphans in Malawi, but William's story shows that these kids have the potential to be future "Williams", and not just barely exist. Judging by the two posts, and the Wall Street Journal footage, you wouldn't even think this is the same country.

Along with my Gwenyth Paltrow "I am an African" post, if celebrities want to help Africa, the best thing to do is pay school fees! Instead of doing an ad campaign which most people will gloss over, just adopt a school, the way we do here in the US, but pay everyone's school fees. This is directly investing in Africa's future.

William Kamkwamba had to drop out of school but still figured out a way to harness the power of wind (which, I might add, is environmentally friendly).  Because of this he was able to get sponsored to go back to school and now is on track to be an exponentially great inventor/investor himself. This is the old, teach a man to fish situation.