William’s worldview and values towards nature enabled him to recognize the root cause of the problem – environmental degradation, and this is reflected in his ideas. One of his projects involved a steam engine to power a water pump. His main consideration was to not use firewood since it only exacerbated the problem of deforestation. Instead, he used solar power that was abundant in Malawi. But recognizing the problem was not sufficient. William had to convince people as well that renewable energy was the way moving forward.

“Few people realize this, but cutting down the trees is one of the things that keeps us Malawians poor.”

The villagers in Wimbe held a strong believe in magic. Many of the incidents that happened, for instance droughts, injuries etc. were explained through witchcraft and wizardry. When strong winds blew away the rain clouds that formed finally after weeks of no rain, the villagers blamed William’s windmill for being a witch tower that caused it to happen. Whilst having no relation, the human mind tends to make associations with events that are temporally near.

The villagers also believed that magic was responsible for HIV/AIDS. There was a lack of testing as they were convinced that anyone who appeared thin and frail had contracted the disease. No preventive measures were taken to stop its spread either since they thought it could not be controlled. People who actually had the disease did not seek treatment due to shame or went to the magic man, hoping for a cure.