STORY | Nelly Cheboi CNN Hero of the Year 2022

Nelly Cheboi grew up in a poor rural village in Kenya and landed a full scholarship to study computer science at Augustana College in Illinois in 2012. Having seen that kids in Kenya didn’t even know what a computer is, she began transporting donated, upcycled computers back home in her personal luggage while handling customs fees and taxes herself.

During her junior year of college, she started building a school in Kenya, Zawadi, where she started TechLit Africa. In 2019 she quit her software job to pursue her philanthropic work of creating computer labs for Kenyan schoolchildren through her organisation TechLit Africa. 

TechLit Africa accepts computer donations from companies, universities and individuals and then redistributes them to build computer labs in African schools. The organization has built 10 computer labs in rural Kenya and is currently working on the next 100 computer labs.

This week, Cheboi was awarded the 2022 CNN Hero of the Year in New York. She won the award thanks to her philanthropic work through her organisation TechLit Africa where she secured computers for children in her rural village.

She accepted the award with her proud mother, who she said ‘worked really hard to educate her.’

At the beginning of her acceptance speech, Cheboi and her mother sang a song onstage that she explained had a special meaning when she was growing up. The song, sang in Swahili, translates: "listen my dear mother, I have something to tell you. My hands are so small and I can't work. But dear mother when I am all grown up, I will work and you will rest."

Nelly Cheboi’s mother could not hide her joy when her daughter was crowned the 2022 CNN Hero of the Year. What a proud moment for an african mother.

As CNN Hero of the Year, Cheboi will receive $100,000 to expand her work. She and the other top 10 CNN Heroes honored at Sunday's gala all receive a $10,000 cash award and, for the first time, additional grants, organizational training and support from The Elevate Prize Foundation through a new collaboration with CNN Heroes. 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.

Nelly is indeed a hero and we celebrate her. We laud her for her unforgettable impact on African children's lives and input in making the future generation of Kenya and Africa tech savvy &  innovative. The only way is up. #Onward #MakeGoodFamous

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