Nelly Cheboi, who creates computer labs for Kenyan schoolchildren, is CNN’s Hero of the Year
CNN
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Nellie CheboyIn 2019, he quit a lucrative software engineering job in Chicago to create a computer lab for Kenyan schoolchildren and became the 2022 CNN Hero of the Year.
Online voters selected her from this year’s field of candidates CNN Top 10 Heroes.
Cheboi’s nonprofit TechLit Africa provides thousands of students in rural Kenya with access to donated upgraded computers and the chance for a brighter future.
Cheboy accepted the award alongside her mother, who she said “worked really hard to educate us.” At the beginning of her acceptance speech, Cheboy sang a song on stage with her mother, which she explained had special meaning to her growing up.
As CNN Hero of the Year, Cheboi will receive $100,000 to expand her work. She and the 10 other CNN Heroes honored at Sunday night each received a $10,000 cash award and, for the first time, additional grants, organizational training and support from the Elevate Awards Foundation through a new partnership with CNN Heroes. Nelly will also be named the recipient of the Elevate Award, which will provide her nonprofit with a $300,000 grant and $200,000 worth of additional support.
Cheboy grew up in poverty in the Kenyan town of Mogotio. “I know the pain of poverty,” said Cheboy, 29. “I will never forget the feeling of my stomach churning with hunger at night.”
A diligent student, Cheboi received a full scholarship to Augustana College in Illinois in 2012. She began her studies there with little experience using computers and handwritten papers that were difficult to transcribe onto a laptop.
However, everything changed during her junior year, when Cheboi took a programming course required for her math major.
“When I discovered computer science, I fell in love with it. I knew it was what I wanted to do as a career and bring it to my community,” she told CNN.
However, many basic computer skills still come with a steep learning curve. Cheboy remembers having to practice touch typing for six months to pass a coding interview. The skill of touch typing is now a core part of the TechLit curriculum.
“It feels very rewarding to see 7-year-olds touch typing because I know I learned to touch type less than five years ago,” she said.
Once she started working in the software industry, Cheboi quickly realized the extent to which computers were being discarded as companies upgraded their technology infrastructure.
“Our kids here (in Kenya) — myself included — they don’t even know what a computer is,” she said.
So in 2018, she began shipping donated computers back to Kenya in personal luggage, handling customs fees and taxes herself.
“One time, I brought 44 computers and I paid more in baggage fees than in airfare,” she said.
A year later, she co-founded TechLit Africa with a fellow software engineer who quit her job. The nonprofit accepts computer donations from companies, universities and individuals.
The hardware is wiped down and refurbished before being shipped to Kenya. There, it is distributed to partner schools in rural communities, where students aged 4 to 12 receive daily lessons and frequent opportunities to learn from professionals, gaining skills that will help improve their education and prepare them for the jobs of the future. .
“We have people who come in with specific skills and they just inspire the kids through music production, video production, coding, personal branding,” Cheboy said. “They can range from distance education courses with NASA to music production.”
The organization currently serves 10 schools; within the next year, Cheboi hopes to partner with another 100 businesses.
“My hope is that when the first TechLit kids graduate high school, they’ll be able to find jobs online because they know how to code, they know how to do graphic design, they know how to market,” Cheboi said. “When you’re educated, the world is your oyster. By providing resources, providing those skills, we’re opening up the world to them.”
Watch CNN’s Heroes of the Year Announcement
An inspiring night of heroism and advocacy
CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC’s Kelly Ripa co-host the 16th annual “CNN Heroes: All-Star Salute,” More than a dozen celebrity hosts were invited.
“We are so honored to be here,” said actress and singer Sofia Carson, who performed a song with award-winning songwriter Diane Warren at the event. “Diane wrote this incredible anthem, ‘Applause,’ for those leaders, survivors and fighters, and tonight we dedicate this song and performance to our heroes.”
Actor Aubrey Plaza Introduces CNN Heroes Aidan RileyHe started his nonprofit while home from college in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Aidan co-founded the Farmlink project with his friends on his pandemic couch,” Plaza said. The nonprofit organization delivers excess food from farms across the U.S. that might otherwise go to waste to people in need. “In just two years he… has moved more than £70 million,” Plaza added.
Debra Wiens – whose nonprofit The Answer Inc. supports families affected by autism in Chicago’s underserved communities – was honored by “Autism Moms” actress Holly Robinson Peete.
Vines said her team has provided programming and guidance to more than 4,000 families. “Join me today and be a servant of change,” Vines said when accepting the award.
Emmy Award-winning actor Justin Theroux took the stage with his rescue dog Kuma to pay tribute Carrie Brock and her non-profit organization Peace of Mind Dog Rescue.
Two teenagers who have contributed to their communities were also honored with the 2022 Youth Miracle Awards:
Ruby Chitsey, a 15-year-old girl from Harrison, Arkansas, started the Ruby Resident’s Three Wishes project to donate personal items to nursing home residents who cannot afford them.
Sri Nihal Tammana, a 13-year-old boy from Edison, New Jersey, started the Recycle My Battery campaign to keep used batteries out of the ecosystem through a network of collection bins.
The play also won Two Georgia poll workersShaye Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, had their lives upended by false accusations that they were involved in election fraud that circulated on social media.
CNN partners with GoFundMe to help Donate to this year’s top 10 winners. GoFundMe is the world’s largest fundraising platform, helping people and charities give and receive help. Supporters can make online donations to CNN’s Top 10 Heroes nonprofit organization directly from CNNHeroes.com. Subaru will match each of this year’s winners with a donation of up to $50,000 through January 3, 2023.
Do you know someone in your community who is doing amazing things to make the world a better place? Pay close attention CNN.com/heroes and consider nominating that person as a CNN Hero in 2023. You can also learn more about many of the past 350 CNN Heroes who have helped more than 55 million people in all 50 states and more than 110 countries around the world.
