All this support for William is not a result of pure coincidences. Mchazime had the opportunity to go to school because his father who grew up in poverty never had the chance and therefore worked doubly hard to put his child through school. Perhaps Mchazime wanted to mirror the role his father played for him by helping William attain an education as well. When many schools rejected William because of his age (having had to stop school for five years), Mchazime went out of his way to contact everyone he knew to ensure that William could secure a spot eventually. Such altruistic behavior might be explained by reciprocal altruism, albeit paying it forward instead, something that William has also done. For William’s mentor Tom Rielly, it was out of a moral obligation that he felt he needed to support the boy who could make an impact on the world, if exposed to the right resources.

“Look, I’ll give you seven years. Seven years is enough to get you through high school and college. And nothing you can do or say will make me leave or abandon you. No matter what. I don’t know when I have ever made such an emphatic commitment, and at the time the decision was instinct more than insight.” – Tom Rielly

There is also the power of the media and the effects of availability heuristics. For five years, William’s windmill went unnoticed however once it was covered by the media, his story became a sensation. Just days after his TEDGlobal appearance, there were 100 entries of his story in the Google Index and one month later, there were approximately 70,000 entries. William received many donations because of the extensive sharing through the media which helped funded the basic necessities and improvement programs for his village. His appeal to the public and story left a vivid impression on people’s minds compared to the knowledge of long-drawn poverty and famine in Malawi. Compassion fade might have led to little donations for the country since the start of the famine. William’s story however resonated with people, and whilst it addressed the very same issues of poverty and famine, led to greater a willingness amongst people to take action.