Nelly Cheboi says Raila Odinga paid for her plane ticket to US after securing scholarship
By Naomi Njoroge, K24 Digital On Sun, 18 Dec, 2022 16:29 | 2 mins read
CNN’s Hero of 2022 and founder of TechLit Africa Nelly Cheboi has revealed how Azimio la Umoja party leader Raila Odinga helped her travel abroad to further her studies.
In an interview with Success Afrika, the 29-year-old computer scientist stated that she was stranded after securing a scholarship at an American university after she scored a clean A in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
She says she got a Visa through their area MP and later randomly met the former Prime Minister and after sharing her story, Raila gave her Ksh300,000 for her plane ticket.
“I went to Maryhill Girls, scored an A, got a scholarship ya America na sina hata passport. Then the MP heard about it. Na akaorganize nikapata passport in two days. Then it’s like I need a visa and an air ticket. Then back, mimi Nelly, nilipata A, naenda America, niko na passport nafaa kureport in two weeks, I don’t even have an air ticket. I kept saying my story until I met Raila. Raila gave me Ksh 300,000,” she said.
Thank you @RailaOdinga for coming into the aid of this young girl. She’s now celebrated the world over pic.twitter.com/SpHfk9SDah— Vincent 🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪 (@VinceChepkwony) December 17, 2022
Cheboi caught the world’s attention following her recognition by CNN as this year’s hero for her work in creating computer labs for Kenyan schoolchildren.
Ruto congratulates Cheboi
President William Ruto honoured Nelly Cheboi with a mention during his speech at Jamhuri Day celebrations in Nyayo National stadium on Monday, December 12.
“We also congratulate 29-year-old, Nelly Cheboi, the founder of Techlit Africa who this morning was declared the CNN hero of the year, for her work in creating computer labs for Kenyan children to access opportunities in the digital world,” the President said.
Adding;
“Congratulations Nelly for connecting and inspiring thousands of Kenyan children.”
Nelly Cheboi, 29 quit a lucrative software engineering job in Chicago in 2019 to create labs for Kenyan schoolchildren with her nonprofit organization.
Nelly Cheboi’s work
Her NGO TechLit Africa focuses on giving thousands of students in rural Kenya access to refurbished computers and the opportunity for a better future.
Cheboi accepted the award with her mother, who she said: “worked really hard to educate us.” 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.
As CNN Hero of the Year, Cheboi will receive $100,000 (Ksh 12.3 million) to expand her work. She and the other top 10 CNN Heroes honoured at Sunday’s gala all receive a $10,000 (Ksh1.2 million) 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.
Cheboi will also receive the Elevate Prize, which entitles her to a grant of $300,000 (Ksh37 million) and additional assistance for her nonprofit organization worth $200,000 (Ksh24.7 million).
According to CNN, Cheboi was given a full scholarship to Augustana College in Illinois in 2012 despite growing up in poverty in Mogotio, a rural township in Kenya.
When she started her studies there, she had little to no computer experience and struggled to type her handwritten papers onto a laptop.
But when Cheboi enrolled in a programming course that was necessary for her mathematics major in her junior year, everything changed.
“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.
