26/05/2026
Imagine growing up in rural Kenya without ever touching a computer, then one day becoming one of the world’s most celebrated tech changemakers.
That’s NellyCheboi story. ❤️
Nelly Cheboi did not grow up around laptops, WiFi, or luxury. She grew up in rural Kenya in a small iron-sheet house with a single mother who struggled every single day just to feed her children. Some days there wasn’t enough food. Some days school fees were impossible to pay.
As a young girl in Mogotio, Kenya, she believed education was her only way out. She studied relentlessly and eventually earned a scholarship to the United States. Imagine this moment for a second, a girl from rural Kenya arriving in America for college without even knowing basic computer skills most students already had.
While studying computer science at Augustana College, she realized something heartbreaking: the only reason she was behind was because children in places like her hometown never had access to technology early enough.
So instead of chasing comfort after getting opportunities abroad, she started dreaming about the children back home.
While many students used their campus job money for survival or fun, Nelly was saving hers to build a school in Kenya. She worked janitor jobs, saved every dollar she could, and slowly started building what would later become a life-changing educational space for children in Mogotio.
In 2019, she left a well-paying software engineering career in Chicago and TechLit Africa an organization focused on bringing digital literacy and refurbished computers to children in rural Africa.
She noticed companies in America were throwing away computers that still worked perfectly. To them, it was “old tech.” To children in rural Kenya, it was access to a future. So she began collecting these discarded computers, repairing them, and shipping them to schools across Kenya. Sometimes she literally carried computers in her luggage herself because funding was limited.
Today, thousands of children are learning coding, design, typing, robotics, Minecraft education, and digital skills through TechLit Africa. Some of these kids are touching a computer for the very first time because of her vision.
In 2022, the world finally paid attention when she was named CNN Hero of the Year. Watching her stand on that stage beside her mother was emotional for so many Africans.
But even after global recognition, she continues to expand schools, create more computer labs, and push TechLit Africa into more communities across Kenya and Uganda.
Young people should study her life carefully.
Because she teaches something important:
Success is powerful, but success that opens doors for others is unforgettable.
