Cover story

TECH SAVVY

Shabbona woman’s nonprofit helps build computer labs in Africa

By KATRINA J.E. MILTON

kmilton@shawmedia.com

SHABBONA – Before she was 18 and applying for college, Nelly Cheboi had never used a computer.

Now 29, Cheboi is a software engineer who is listed on Forbes’ 2022 Social Impact List of “30 Under 30” for co-founding a nonprofit organization that distributes recycled technology to build computer labs in Kenyan schools.

Cheboi said that realizing the importance of learning computer skills at a young age led her to creating TechLit Africa with her husband, Tyler Cinnamon, in 2018. TechLit Africa has 4,000 students and 20 teachers, and Cheboi is working to establish an additional 100 computer labs.

Cheboi, who lives in Shabbona, is originally from Mogotio, a small village in Kenya about four hours from the capital city, Nairobi. She grew up in her town with her mom, who was a single parent, and her three sisters.

“I became really motivated to find a solution to poverty because of my mom,” Cheboi said. “She worked really hard. She would do so many jobs: selling mangoes at the market, buying and selling goats, having a small food stand. She worked hard and struggled to put us through school. I really wanted to help her and give children growing up in communities like mine a better childhood.”

Cheboi said she studied, sometimes until 2 a.m., to make sure she did well in school. Her good grades allowed her to attend high school, which was a boarding school about four hours away from home. She graduated at the top of her class and was awarded a full-ride scholarship to Augustana College in Rock Island.

“As a teenager, I was really driven,” Cheboi said. “I had so much conviction. I wanted to take care of my mom and siblings.”

During her freshman year at Augustana, Cheboi spent her weekends doing janitorial work and cleaning toilets.

“I was only allowed to work 20 hours a week as an international student, so I worked from 6 a.m. to noon on Saturdays on Sundays,” Cheboi said. “I didn’t make much money, but I worked hard and saved and saved.”

During a school break, she used all the money she saved to buy a plane ticket home to Kenya. While in Nairobi, she bought a truckload of furniture and returned home to move her family out of their small shack.

“We didn’t have electricity or running water, and I was able to move my family into a really nice apartment with nice furniture and a TV,” she said. “It was a really nice homecoming.”

However, Cheboi soon found that living in the new apartment wasn’t sustainable for her family.

“They could barely afford living in the shack, and I had to send them money for food and water and electricity bills,” she said. “It was really hard for me to support them, so I started thinking, and I started a small school.”

As a junior in college, Cheboi helped establish and build the school, Zawadi, in 2015 using money she made working minimum wage jobs. The school opened in 2016 with 40 students. Cheboi said that since the school opened, she’s never had to support her family, because her younger sister helps operate the school.

With the foundation of the school, Cheboi soon realized that a lack of technology and internet was holding her people back.

“I realized that the reason why most of our communities are poor is because of the lack of technology,” she said. “Computers are the easiest way to empower communities like mine. There are a lot of jobs online. You can work remotely, and all you need are the skills, a computer and the internet. It seemed like an easy solution to deconstruct the system that was holding us down.”

In 2018, Cheboi graduated college and started her first full-time job as a software engineer, where she met her now-husband, Tyler Cinnamon. Together, they flew to Kenya to teach computer science to children. They co-founded the nonprofit organization TechLit Africa, which distributes recycled technology to build computer labs in African schools.

“We quickly realized that it’s hard to get adults who work minimum wage jobs to commit to the program,” Cheboi said. “But kids are really interested in learning. ... We decided to really teach computer skills, we needed to get computers into schools. It has to be part of their school life every single day, where they’re growing up with the technology.”

Jane Bahls, chair of the board of TechLit Africa, said that watching Cheboi’s dreams come to life has been exciting. Bahls, the First Lady of Augustana College, helped sponsor Cheboi during her university days and describes Cheboi and her husband as honorary family members.

“It’s been amazing how she first lifted her family out of poverty through her college jobs, established a school and now helps expose kids in Africa to technology,” Bahls said. “With digital skills, these children will be able to get good jobs wherever they live from international companies.”

Cheboi is traveling to Kenya for a six-month stay. Her goal is to expand TechLit Africa and computer and technology literacy tenfold in the next five years and expand into other African countries.

“All you need is tech knowledge, the computer, the internet and these skills,” Cheboi said. “Skills like knowing how to design a webpage, how to code, build apps, communicate online and creative thinking, are useful. They can use those skills for marketing or sales or business, so many different types of jobs. These skills are in high demand. Knowing those skills is life-changing.”

To help Cheboi and TechLit Africa, donations of desktop, laptop and tablet computers are being collected to establish computer labs. Cheboi said the most impactful way to get involved is by investing monthly, subscribing a monetary donation to help make sure the schools and computer labs continue to operate.

“[TechLit Africa] is giving children in Africa a chance to have a level playing field,” Bahls said. “Nelly’s success story shows that it is possible for one person to make a huge difference. Computers that Americans are just getting rid of can actually help people in rural Kenya to learn skills that will help life their whole families out of poverty.”

For more information about TechLit Africa, visit www.techlitafrica.org.

Photo provided Nelly Cheboi co-founded TechLit Africa, a nonprofit organization which redistributes recycled technology to build computer labs in Kenyan schools. Cheboi, 29, is listed on Forbes’ 2022 Social Impact List of “30 Under 30.”

Lilian Ndicu poses for a photo with her husband, Martin, after receiving her pin during Kishwaukee College’s Nursing Pinning Ceremony. Ndicu was one of 34 graduates in the fall semester, and was nominated for the nursing program’s Outstanding Student.

Photo provided

Kish College recognizes 34 nursing students at pinning ceremony

THE MIDWEEK

Kishwaukee College nursing students were honored by faculty, administration and staff during a pinning ceremony on Dec. 15. Thirty-four students were recognized for their successful completion of Kish’s Registered Nursing program, and were presented with a special pin during the ceremony before family and friends.

The registered nursing graduating class of fall 2021 are: Anton Barton, Rebecca Brucks, Leticia Castaneda, Caroline Clasen, Samantha Collin, Angel Davis, Ashley Del Real, Allison Dillingham, Jessica Espinoza, Nohely Espinosa, Mary Fiedler, Jennifer Guymon, Susan Kinsey, Kassandra Klotz, Lekeia Knight, Katelyn Kovacs, Kelso Kuipers, Laura Lopez, Meijiao Lyons, Shanice Mallett, Tamara Mason, Meaghan McFatridge, Kyesha Means, Avery Mertz, Mya Millard, Karina Mora, Lilian Ndicu, Diana Penaran, Haley Puffenbarger, Lindsey Robertson, Jessica Snow, Janette Solis, Mallory Thies and Rachel Wesbrock.

Brucks, Clasen, Kovacs, Mertz, Millard, Penaran, Puffenbarger, Thies and Wesbrock were recognized as members of the Alpha Delta Nu Nursing Honors Society. Lilian Ndicu was the fall 2021 class’s nomination for the Nursing Program’s Outstanding Student.

“I am forever grateful to my kind instructors for sharing their knowledge with me. I experienced kindness and love at Kishwaukee College. I enjoyed my journey of hard work, and I hope other students will experience the same,” Ndicu said in a news release. “The most important thing I have learned is to be patient-centered – to see, feel and listen to my patients as I give them evidence-based quality care.”

The ceremony included an address from Jud Curry, dean of Office of Instruction, and Angela Delmont, director of nursing. Delmont emphasized the importance of graduates entering the nursing field during the ongoing pandemic.

“Right now, it is more important than ever that we are graduating nurses who are able to be on those front lines, caring for the patients and their families who have been affected by COVID-19,” she said in the release.

During the ceremony, each graduate was pinned individually by a friend or family member who had supported the student or acted as a mentor during completion of the program.

The Registered Nursing program at Kishwaukee College prepares students to become fully licensed registered nurses in the state of Illinois. For more information on nursing at Kishwaukee College, visit www.kish.edu/nursing.

216 S. First Street, Dekalb, IL 60115 M-F 8-8 • Sat. 9-5 815-756-9500

WE CAN NOW RENEW YOUR PLATES!

View Our Cars 24/7 • Up To 30 Pictures

SHOP 24/7 AT

13 DODGE DART SXT

#12702A, 113K, Local Trade, Power Windows & Locks, Keyless Entry, Cruise Control, Aluminum wheels, Bluetooth

$8,995*

CA RS

18 BUICK ENCORE PREMIUM

#12750, 40K, Power Sunroof, Navigation, Heated Leather, Chrome Wheels, Memory Seat Driver, Loaded

$29,495* 19 BUICK ENVISION PREMIUM II AWD

#12785, 24K, Sunroof, Heated & Cooled Leather, Navigation System, Premium Sound, Memory Seat Driver!

$40,995*

SE LE CT IM PO RT LO T

17 TOYOTA CAMRY LE

#12753, 60K, Power Seat, Driver, Back Up Camera, Cruise Control, Power Windows, Power Locks & Mirrors

$19,995* 16 TOYOTA RAV4 SE 4WD

#12795, 18K, Power Sunroof, Navigation, Heated Leather, Aluminum Wheels, Running Boards, Keyless Start, Back-Up Camera & More

$32,995* 18 HONDA CR-V EX-L AWD

#12794, 29K, Power Sunroof, Heated Leather, Driver Confidence Package, Remote Start, Power Liftgate

$34,995*

TR UC KS , VA NS & SU V’ S

08 FORD F-150 LARIAT SUPERCREW 2WD

#12772, 147K, Local Trade, Very Clean Truck, Dual Power Seats, Chrome Wheels, Fog Lamps, Tow Package, Remote Start, Adjustable Pedals

$13,995* 19 FORD F-150 XLT SUPER CAB

#12748 4WD, Tow Package Running Boards, Remote Start, Heated Seats, Driver Confidence

$39,995* 2019 FORD EDGE SEL AWD

#12791, 31K, Heated Leather, Heated Steering Wheel, Back-Up Camera, Remote Start, Power Liftgate, Driver Confidence Package

$34,995* 19 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LIMITED 4WD

#12774 29k Sunroof, Navigation, Heated & Cooled Leather, Premium Sound system, Remote Start, Power Liftgate, Loaded

$42,495*

17 CHRYSLER PACIFICA TOURING-L

#12764, 41K, 3rd Row Seat, Heated Leather, Navigation, Power Liftgate, Back Up Camera, Aluminum Wheels, Rear A/C

$30,995* 19 BUICK ENCLAVE ESSENCE

#12777 22k 3rd Row Seat, Heated Leather, Aluminum Wheels Premium Sound, Remote Start, Back Up Camera, Blind Spot Monitor, Cross Traffic Alert

$41,995* GO TO WWW.TOMSPARKS.COM TO CHECK OUT ALL OF OUR INVENTORY STARTING AT $7,495

LUBE, OIL & FILTER $23.95*

Includes up to 5 quarts conventional 5w30 or 5w20 oil. Plus air tires & top off fluids.

SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE CHECK $44.95

INSPECT: Wipers, Brakes, Exhaust, Belts & Hoses, Battery, Axle Boots, Steering, Suspension, Tires, Fluid Levels

*Some filters extra. Please call for an appointment. Expires 3/31/22

COOLING SYSTEM SERVICE* $129.95

Flush Cooling System, Install New AntiFreeze, Check Thermostat Operation, Inspect Hoses & Clamps Inspect Waterpump

Must present coupon. Expires 3/31/22

TIRE ROTATION, BALANCE & BRAKE INSPECTION FOR $44.95

*Most Vehicles. Must present coupon. Expires 3/31/22 Must present coupon. Expires 3/31/22

WE WE OF OFFE FER R CO CONT NTAC ACTL TLESS ESS DR DROP OP OF OFF F WE BUY USED CARS 815-739-1983 DAN

Downtown Sandwich building a total loss after fire

SHAW LOCAL NEWS NETWORK

Sandwich Fire Protection District firefighters, assisted by firefighters from several area fire districts, battled a large fire in a two-story commercial and apartment building in downtown Sandwich on Jan. 11.

Sandwich Fire Protection District Lt. Kyle Gruca said on Jan. 12 the roof on the building at 28 W. Center St. had collapsed and the building was a total loss.

Gruca said no building occupants or firefighters were injured in the blaze.

The Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office has been contacted and will conduct an investigation into the cause of the fire, Gruca said.

Firefighters were summoned to the fire at 10:08 p.m. Jan. 11. Upon arrival, firefighters found the occupants of the second floor apartments had safely evacuated the building, Gruca said.

A woodworking business, Yoeckel Woodworking, was located on the building’s first level and was unoccupied when the fire started.

Gruca said the fire posed a challenge to firefighters to extinguish due to the building’s age and the materials inside.

“The building had been remodeled over the years and that made it difficult for us to fight,” Gruca said. “We used three ladder trucks in three different positions around the building. We had a Sandwich ladder truck put up, we had one from [Bristol-Kendall] and then Hinckley’s snorkel [truck].”

The Oswego, Plano, Somonauk, Leland, Newark and Streator fire protection districts also sent equipment and personnel to the scene.

Mark Busch – mbusch@shawmedia.com A pile of rubble is all that remains of a commercial building in the 20th block of Center Street in downtown Sandwich after a large fire late Dec. 11.

394 S MAIN ST. • BURLINGTON OFFERED AT $275,000! ANOTHER KELLY MILLER TEAM EXCLUSIVE LISTING

CALL THE KELLY MILLER TEAM TO SCHEDULE YOUR PRIVATE SHOWING!

Call us now!

• 65x25 Heated Pole Building • Hydraulic Car Lift • 3 Phase Power • 2 Car Garage • 3 Beds, 2 Baths • .9 Acres • So many possibilities!

Your Director of Real Estate Services Kelly Miller 815.757.0123

SRS, ABR, GRI, Certified New Home & Relocation Specialist Kelly@KellyMillerTeam.com www.KellyMillerTeam.com

Sycamore

Come Taste Our Award Winning Ribs! Thursday Special