A 29-year-old Kenyan woman, Nelly Cheboi who quit a lucrative software engineering job in Chicago, in the United States in 2019 to establish computer labs for Kenyan schoolchildren, has won the 2022 CNN Hero of the Year.
Cheboi received the award on Sunday evening at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, US.
She founded the nonprofit organisation, TechLit Africa, to offer thousands of students across rural Kenya access to donated, upcycled computers — and the chance at a brighter future.
At the event hosted by American broadcaster, Anderson Cooper and actress, Kelly Ripa, the TechLit Africa founder received the award with her mother who she said, “worked really hard to educate us.”
Cheboi and her mother, sang onstage before the former’s acceptance speech, which she explained had a special meaning when she was growing up.
As CNN Hero of the Year, Cheboi will receive $100,000 to expand her work. She and the other top 10 CNN Heroes awarded at Sunday’s gala all receive a $10,000 cash award.
And, for the first time, additional grants, organisational training and support from The Elevate Prize Foundation through a new collaboration with CNN Heroes are other benefits for her.
Nelly will also be named an Elevate Prize winner, which comes with a $300,000 grant and additional support worth $200,000 for her nonprofit.
Cheboi grew up in poverty in Mogotio, a rural settlement in Kenya. “I know the pain of poverty. I never forgot what it was like with my stomach churning because of hunger at night.”
“When I discovered computer science, I just fell in love with it. I knew that this is something that I wanted to do as my career, and also bring it to my community,” she told CNN.
“I feel so accomplished seeing kids that are seven years touch-typing, knowing that I just learned how to touch-type less than five years ago,” Cheboi added.
So, in 2018, she began transporting donated computers back to Kenya — in her personal luggage, handling customs fees and taxes herself.
The organisation currently serves 10 schools; within the next year, Cheboi hopes to be partnered with 100 more.