CNN
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Nelly Cheboi, who in 2019 quit a lucrative software engineering job in Chicago to create computer labs for Kenyan schoolchildren, is the 2022 CNN Hero of the Year.

Online voters selected her from among this year’s Top 10 CNN Heroes.

Cheboi’s nonprofit, TechLit Africa, has provided thousands of students across rural Kenya with access to donated, upcycled computers — and the chance at a brighter 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 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.

Cheboi grew up in poverty in Mogotio, a rural township in Kenya. “I know the pain of poverty,” said Cheboi, 29. “I never forgot what it was like with my stomach churning because of hunger at night.”

A hard-working student, Cheboi received a full scholarship to Augustana College in Illinois in 2012. She began her studies there with almost no experience with computers, handwriting papers and struggling to transcribe them onto a laptop.

Everything changed in her junior year, though, when Cheboi took a programming course required for her mathematics major.

“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.

Many basic computer skills were still a steep learning curve, however. Cheboi remembers having to practice touch-typing for six months before she could pass a coding interview. Touch-typing is a skill that is now a core part of the TechLit curriculum.

“I feel so accomplished seeing kids that are 7 years old touch-typing, knowing that I just learned how to touch-type less than five years ago,” she said.

Once she had begun working in the software industry, Cheboi soon realized the extent of which computers were being thrown away as companies upgraded their technology infrastructure.

“We have kids here (in Kenya) — myself included, back in the day — who don’t even know what a computer is,” she said.

So, in 2018, she began transporting donated computers back to Kenya — in her personal luggage, handling customs fees and taxes herself.

“At one point, I was bringing 44 computers, and I paid more for the luggage than I did for the air ticket,” she said.

A year later, she co-founded TechLit Africa with a fellow software engineer after both quit their jobs. The nonprofit accepts computer donations from companies, universities and individuals.

The hardware is wiped and refurbished before it’s shipped to Kenya. There, it’s distributed to partner schools in rural communities, where students ages 4 to 12 receive daily classes and frequent opportunities to learn from professionals, gaining skills that will help improve their education and better prepare them for future jobs.

“We have people who own a specific skill coming in and are just inspiring the kids (with) music production, video production, coding, personal branding,” Cheboi said. “They can go from doing a remote class with NASA on education to music production.”

The organization currently serves 10 schools; within the next year, Cheboi hopes to be partnered with 100 more.

“My hope is that when the first TechLit kids graduate high school, they’re able to get a job online because they will know how to code, they will know how to do graphic design, they will know how to do marketing,” Cheboi said. “The world is your oyster when you are educated. By bringing the resources, by bringing these skills, we are opening up the world to them.”

Watch the moment CNN’s Hero of the Year is announced

Watch the moment CNN’s Hero of the Year is announced

01:30

An inspiring night of heroism and advocacy

CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC’s Kelly Ripa co-hosted the 16th Annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” which featured more than a dozen celebrity presenters.

“We’re so deeply honored to be here,” said actress and singer Sofia Carson, who perfomed a song with award-winning songwriter Diane Warren at the event. “Diane wrote this incredible anthem ‘Applause’ for those leading, surviving and fighting and tonight we dedicate this song and performance to our heroes.”

Actor Aubrey Plaza introduced CNN Hero Aidan Reilly, who launched his nonprofit while home from college during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“From his pandemic couch, Aidan and his friends co-founded Farmlink Project,” Plaza said. The nonprofit connects excess food from farms across the US – food that would otherwise be wasted – to those who need it. “In just two years, he .. has moved more than 70 million pounds,” Plaza added.

Debra Vines – whose nonprofit The Answer Inc. supports families impacted by autism in underserved communities across Chicago – was honored by actress Holly Robinson Peete, a “fellow autism mom.”

Vines says her group has provided programming and guidance to more than 4,000 families. “Join me and be a servant for the change today,” Vines said when accepting her award.

And Emmy award-winning actor Justin Theroux brought his rescue dog Kuma, on the stage to honor Carie Broecker ​​and her nonprofit, Peace of Mind Dog Rescue.

Two teenagers making a difference in their communities were also honored as 2022 Young Wonders:

Ruby Chitsey, a 15-year-old from Harrison, Arkansas, started “Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents,” which donates personal items to nursing home residents who couldn’t otherwise afford them.

Sri Nihal Tammana, a 13-year-old from Edison, New Jersey, started “Recycle My Battery,” which keeps used batteries out of the ecosystem through a network of collection bins.

The show also honored two Georgia poll workers, Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, whose lives were upended after false allegations that they had been involved in election fraud spread on social media.

CNN has partnered with GoFundMe to enable donations to this year’s Top 10 honorees. GoFundMe is the world’s largest fundraising platform that empowers people and charities to give and receive help. Supporters can make online donations to the Top 10 CNN Heroes’ non-profit organizations directly from CNNHeroes.com. Subaru is matching all donations up to $50,000 for each of this year’s honorees through January 3, 2023.

Do you know someone in your community doing amazing things to make the world a better place? Keep an eye on CNN.com/heroes and consider nominating that person as a CNN Hero in 2023. You can also read more about many of the 350 past CNN Heroes who have helped over 55 million people across all 50 US states and in more than 110 countries around the world.

CNN
 — 

Some people travel the world in search of adventure, while others seek out natural wonders, cultural landmarks or culinary experiences. But French photographer François Prost was looking for something altogether different during his recent road trip across America: strip clubs.

From Miami to Los Angeles, Prost’s latest book “Gentlemen’s Club” charts his route across the US via nearly 150 strip clubs with names like Pleasures, Temptations and Cookies N’ Cream. There isn’t a single nude woman to be seen, however, as Prost’s camera was exclusively trained on the buildings themselves — and specifically their often-colorful facades.

Over the course of five weeks in 2019 he traversed over 6,000 miles, with the resulting photos capturing everything from the pastel hues of Florida’s Club Pink Pussycat to venues hiding in plain sight in the country’s more religious states.

“I’d divide these venues into two types: One is very integrated into the public landscape, and one is a bit more hidden and dodgy,” Prost said, speaking to CNN on a video call and email.

The first type, he added, could be found in “very American” settings, such as “around amusement parks and fast food and malls.” The latter venues, however, would sometimes look indistinguishable from any store in a strip mall. Prost said he found many such establishments along the Bible Belt, a socially conservative region in the country’s south. He was especially keen to explore the area due to the apparent contrast between the prevalence of strip clubs and what he describes in his book as “conservatism and extreme puritanism.”

Prost insisted that he had little interest in the interiors or services of the strip clubs, which he always visited during the day. Instead, he hoped to learn more about American culture by creating objective, documentary-style photographs of establishments sitting at the intersection of sex, gender and commerce. Documenting changing attitudes toward sex through the lens of architecture, he added that the series was primarily of a landscape photography project.

“The prism of this theme of strip club facades became a way of studying and trying to understand the country,” he wrote in “Gentlemen’s Club,” photographs from which will feature in an exhibition in Tokyo in March.

”(‘Gentlemen’s Club’ is) an objective panorama of dominant opinions and gender and the sexualization of the feminine image.”

The genesis of Prost’s project dates back to his 2018 series, “After Party,” which focused on the flamboyant facades of French nightclubs. He said that people frequently commented that the buildings’ exteriors looked as though they had been ripped straight out of American cities, sparking the idea that he should visit the US and extend the project.

As he meticulously planned his trip, he was struck not only by the sheer volume of strip clubs in America but that — unlike In Europe — they often demanded to be seen. Hot pink walls, gigantic nude silhouettes and even candy-cane-striped storefronts made no secret of the kind of entertainment provided inside.

“A good example would be Las Vegas, where strip clubs are everywhere and their signs blink as much as a fast food (restaurant) or casino sign,” Prost said.

Miami’s clubs were often painted in vivid, Wes Anderson-esque hues. Other photos show brightly covered venues contrasting with their sparse desert surroundings.

If the establishments were open during the day, Prost would enter and ask for permission to take photos in order “to not look suspicious… and explain what my intentions were,” he said. The interiors rarely lived up to the tantalizing promises plastered across the signs outside, but the photographer met a host of characters during his five-week trip, from indifferent bouncers to managers who were thrilled about the project.

“Most of the time, people were OK — 99% of them would say yes to a facade picture,” he said, adding they typically wouldn’t mind his presence, as long as he didn’t take photos of patrons or dancers.

“Some would think that it was a bit strange, some would be really excited about it and give me their business card to send me the picture when it was done,” he said.

Prost said his biggest surprise, however, was how “normalized” strip clubs appeared to be in everyday life. As he reflects in his book, “The relationship that Americans seem to have with strip clubs is quite different to what you see in Europe. Going to a strip club seems to be a lot more normalized … You go as a couple, or amongst friends at night to have fun.”

He was struck, for instance, by the fact that so many Las Vegas strip clubs doubled as restaurants — with many boasting happy hour deals, buffets and special discounts for truck drivers or construction workers.

“I noticed a few strip clubs that would advertise being a strip club and steakhouse, so you could eat a big piece of meat (while) watching strippers. That is also something that seems very American to me,” he said, adding: “I heard from some people I met in Portland there are even strip clubs (that offer) vegan food.”

The facades are littered with jokes like “My sex life is like the Sahara, 2 palms, no dates” and pun-based names like Booby Trap and Bottoms Up. Prost’s documentarian approach heightens the signs’ surreal comedy. But it also doubles as a neutral lens through which viewers can make up their own minds about the objectification of women.

By honing in on the faceless dancing bodies of female silhouettes and the quintessential “girls girls girls” signs, “Gentleman’s Club” explores the commodification of women who are, in reality, completely absent in Prost’s works (an observation reflected in the book’s title, which is a phrase that crops up numerous times on signs throughout his photographs). The strip clubs he visited market women as things to be consumed, from the many food-themed names to an advertisement reading, “1,000’s of beautiful girls & three ugly ones.”

For his next project, Prost plans to visit Japan to document the nation’s love hotels, which occupy a similar role as strip clubs in some parts of the US: open secrets in a conservative society. But the photographer believes the American establishments he visited say something unique about the country — something that is less about sexuality and more about the American dream.

What his project has shown him is, he said, this: “As long as you’re successful in terms of business, (it doesn’t matter) if your activity deals with sex.”

“Gentlemen’s Club” will be exhibited at Agnes b. Galerie Boutique in Tokyo, Japan, between March 17 and April 15, 2023. The book, published by Fisheye Editions, is available now.

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CNN
 — 

“Old Masters” such as Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli and Rembrandt may have used proteins, especially egg yolk, in their oil paintings, according to a new study.

Trace quantities of protein residue have long been detected in classic oil paintings, though they were often ascribed to contamination. A new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications found the inclusion was likely intentional — and sheds light on the technical knowledge of the Old Masters, the most skilled European painters of the 16th, 17th, or early 18th century, and the way they prepared their paints.

“There are very few written sources about this and no scientific work has been done before to investigate the subject in such depth,” said study author Ophélie Ranquet of the Institute of Mechanical Process Engineering and Mechanics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, in a phone interview. “Our results show that even with a very small amount of egg yolk, you can achieve an amazing change of properties in the oil paint, demonstrating how it might have been beneficial for the artists.”

Simply adding some egg yolk to their works, it turns out, could have long-lasting effects that went beyond just aesthetics.

Compared with the medium formulated by ancient Egyptians called tempera — which combines egg yolk with powdered pigments and water — oil paint creates more intense colors, allows for very smooth color transitions and dries far less quickly, so it can be used for several days after its preparation. However, oil paint, which uses linseed or safflower oil instead of water, also has drawbacks, including being more susceptible to color darkening and damage caused by exposure to light.

Because making paint was an artisanal and experimental process, it is possible that the Old Masters might have added egg yolk, a familiar ingredient, to the newer type of paint, which first showed up in the seventh century in Central Asia before spreading to Northern Europe in the Middle Ages and Italy during the Renaissance. In the study, the researchers recreated the process of paint-making by using four ingredients — egg yolk, distilled water, linseed oil and pigment — to mix two historically popular and significant colors, lead white and ultramarine blue.

“The addition of egg yolk is beneficial because it can tune the properties of these paints in a drastic way,” Ranquet said, “For example by showing aging differently: It takes a longer time for the paint to oxidize, because of the antioxidants contained in the yolk.”

The chemical reactions between the oil, the pigment and the proteins in the yolk directly affect the paint’s behavior and viscosity. “For example, the lead white pigment is quite sensitive to humidity, but if you coat it with a protein layer, it makes it a lot more resistant to it, making the paint quite easy to apply,” Ranquet said.

“On the other hand, if you wanted something stiffer without having to add a lot of pigment, with a bit of egg yolk you can create a high impasto paint,” she added, referring to a painting technique where the paint is laid out in a stroke thick enough that the brushstrokes are still visible. Using less pigment would have been desirable centuries ago, when certain pigments — such as lapis lazuli, which was used to make ultramarine blue — were more expensive than gold, according to Ranquet.

A direct evidence of the effect of egg yolk in oil paint, or lack thereof, can be seen in Leonardo da Vinci’s “Madonna of the Carnation,” one of the paintings observed during the study. Currently on display at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, Germany, the work shows evident wrinkling on the face of Mary and the child.

“Oil paint starts to dry from the surface down, which is why it wrinkles,” Ranquet said.

One reason for wrinkling may be an insufficient quantity of pigments in the paint, and the study has shown that this effect could be avoided with the addition of egg yolk: “That’s quite amazing because you have the same quantity of pigment in your paint, but the presence of the egg yolk changes everything.”

Because wrinkling occurs within days, it’s likely that Leonardo and other Old Masters might have caught onto this particular effect, as well as additional beneficial properties of egg yolk in oil paint, including resistance to humidity. The “Madonna of Carnation” is one of Leonardo’s earliest paintings, created at a time when he might have been still trying to master the then newly popular medium of oil paint.

New understanding of the classics

Another painting observed during the study was “The Lamentation Over the Dead Christ,” by Botticelli, also on display at the Alte Pinakothek. The work is mostly made with tempera, but oil paint has been used for the background and some secondary elements.

“We knew that some parts of the paintings show brushstrokes that are typical for what we call an oil painting, and yet we detected the presence of proteins,” Ranquet said. “Because it’s a very small quantity and they are difficult to detect, this might be dismissed as contamination: In workshops, artists used many different things, and maybe the eggs were just from the tempera.”

However, because adding egg yolk had such desirable effects on oil paint, the presence of proteins in the work might be an indication of deliberate use instead, the study suggested. Ranquet hopes that these preliminary findings might attract more curiosity toward this understudied topic.

Maria Perla Colombini, a professor of analytical chemistry at the University of Pisa in Italy, who was not involved in the study, agreed. “This exciting paper provides a new scenario for the understanding of old painting techniques,” she said in an email.

“The research group, reporting results from molecular level up to a macroscopic scale, contributes to a new knowledge in the use of egg yolk and oil binders. They are not more looking at simply identifying the materials used by Old Masters but explain how they could produce wonderful and glittering effects by employing and mixing the few available natural materials. They try to discover the secrets of old recipes of which little or nothing is written,” she added.

“This new knowledge contributes not only to a better conservation and preservation of artworks but also to a better comprehension of art history.”

Top image: The “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo Da Vinci