Last year, sixth-grade teacher Sue Owen could've just had her students read, discuss, and take inspiration from The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba's autobiographical account of teaching himself to build a windmill to supply his Malawian village with water and electricity. But she wanted to go farther—much farther, all the way to Africa. So she also had her students research and write their own nonfiction books to send to a school in Malawi. This fall, their projects were hand-delivered by nonprofit The Malawi Project to the country's prestigious Kamuzu Academy, where hopefully they can help spark even more learning, innovation, and big dreams.
Mrs. Owen is thrilled with the outcome of the project, and says her former students are, too. They love the idea that their work might help others—although ultimately, the project may have benefited Holton students the most. Along the journey to final product, girls built critical skills in reading, analysis, research, writing, cross-cultural communication, and perspective-taking. And students not only learned about Malawi; they forged real connections to the country on the other side of the globe, while also gaining knowledge of themselves and their own culture.
The idea for the project came about as Mrs. Owen contemplated the book's central themes: education, creation and innovation, and service to others. How could she empower her students to become creators, to help others, to build and share their knowledge, too?
"My students were such book lovers," says Mrs. Owen, "and I think after reading this book they got immediately how meaningful books were to William, who didn't have access to a traditional education. I think students were amazed by what he was able to do with just books, and somewhat horrified by their rarity in his village. We talked about how we could write books for students like William, and how we have such an abundance of books and resources over here."
The teacher asked each student to choose her own topic; it could be one of her interests, or something that could be of interest or benefit to Malawian students. The girls researched and wrote about a remarkable range of subjects: falconry, antibiotics, creation stories around the world, the Olympics, acting, cello, the bicycle, and basketball, to name a few.
"It was interesting for the students to think through their hopes for their audience and how this topic might enrich their lives," says Mrs. Owen. "They also thought about how this topic has enriched their own lives, like how they've benefited from the gift of music, or the teamwork they enjoy as a result of playing a sport. Then they had to think about how to explain all of that for someone who might have limited or no previous knowledge of the topic. All that was great perspective for them."
Mrs. Owen hopes the project has instilled in students the sense that they, too, can create, innovate, and effect change. "In their research," she says, "they discovered once again how one person or a small group of people was inspired to create, and they could see how a seemingly small idea or invention can become something so much bigger that really benefits society."
To deliver the books to Africa, Mrs. Owen partnered with The Malawi Project, a nonprofit that enthusiastically agreed to accept handmade books. In fact, the organization believed the books were "too important to simply send in a shipping container," so instead had its board members hand-deliver them to the Kamuzu Academy, an elite school established by Malawi's first president.
The school received the books with much fanfare this November, hosting an all-school assembly with Malawi's Mother, Mama Cecilia Kadzamira, in attendance. Read The Malawi Project's account of the ceremony here.
Learn more about Holton's commitment to global education here.
Sixth graders pose with their finished books last year.
Students selected a huge range of topics for their books; here is just a small sample.
A class of sixth graders shows off their books for Malawian students last year.