Dear Backers,

A little bleary eyed here in Moving Windmills HQ (ok, my home office. : ) 40 days of support from hundreds of donors and well-wishers have resulted in a successful campaign. Because of you we can edit the film (and even faster than we planned). We'll be able to grow our production team with an associate producer and intern to help the editors and director. We'll be able to clock far more person-hours on the project. And we hope that you will be proud of the result. You are friends, family, colleagues, folks we didn't know before the project, anonymous donors, even a top Hollywood film director. Thank you to each and everyone of you. I'm just kind of stunned and Ben is too, as is Michael our CPA, Nathan our intern, and everyone who helped us. 

When we started our Kickstarter project to bring the story of William Kamkwamba to life via film, we had no ideal how much hard work, fun, and ultimately emotion we would experience. We had no way to know that your generosity would result in 286% of our original goal. We recognize you, we give you credit, we extend our gratitude to you and we shower you with appreciation! In other words, Thank You!

Love, Tom and Ben

P.S. We'll be in touch. Should you have any questions, you can reach Ben and Me at info@movingwindmills.org, or [firstname]@

P.P.S. Off to bed!

Dear all 358 backers who've come with Ben, William and me on this adventure of 40 days and 40 nights. You have done it! You just crossed $110,000 which means the film will net $100,000 (at least). There are still 9 hours to go and donations have been coming in steadily so I can't predict the final number. Each of them is sweet frosting on your amazing documentary cake. Working with you and your commitments has been fun, exciting and comes with an awesome responsibility. We promised to get back to the editing room and to use your money frugally. 

When William was building his windmill, everyone said he was crazy, that he would never succeed, and that his mother should be worried about him. But, in his exact words from nearly 5 years ago, "I try and I made it." We didn't know if we could do this Kickstarter project, but I think just a little bit of William rubbed off on us. 

Merci, Danke, Arigato, Gracias, Gratzie, Thank you!

Love, Tom and Ben

This photo is of William preparing nsima, Malawi's national staple dish. It's made of hot cornmeal rolled into balls. The consistency is like firmer Cream of Wheat. Nsima is served with "relishes:" mustard greens, tomatoes, and if available a little chicken or goat meat.  It's delicious.

Dear Backers,

I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday. We are pretty much glued to the computer communicating about the closing hours of the campaign. Speaking of which, the tote board says $106,258, leaving only $3642 to declare absolute victory: $110,000 nets us $100K or a bit more after paying Amazon and Kickstarter their cuts (which are fair). You know how to help.....! : )

Now onto the main attraction: Almost exactly two years later William came back to speak at TEDGlobal in Oxford in 2009. He gave a follow-up talk on the main stage. I knew he was nervous but much less than last time. He left the party the night before early and went back to his Oxford dorm room where he stayed and rehearsed over and over again....the result was a standing ovation and many tears: (thoughts? in the comments)

Dear Backers, 

I hope you slept well! Quick headlines: 21 hours to go, $103,615, pledges just starting as people wake up, trying to reach $110K so we net $100K after Amazon and Kickstarter fees. By now you know the drill: 1. Increase your pledge, or 2. Get a friend to pledge, or 3. Tweet about the project (be sure to include the hours left) or 3. Facebook (same), or email your friends (same.) We're hoping for an exciting finish!

Now, about this video. William was 19 when my colleague Emeka Okafor invited him to TED Global 2007 (known now as TED Africa). He'd never had a new pair of shoes, or shirt or pants, but his malawian well wishers bought him one of each. He'd never been on a plane, or stayed in a hotel, or had any reason to practice his grade school English for five years. Still, when I met him, he was standing in the corner like a wallflower. Within 10 minutes of talking to him with his halting English, I had a Eureka feeling that "this kid's got a chance." So I convinced TED's boss Chris to put him onstage. WK hates this video, because he was so nervous that he misunderstood one of the questions and his English is rusty at best. Later today I'll show you William at TED two years later and you won't believe it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_on_building_a_windmill.html