Ethiopia-American Heman Bekele: A Glimpse into TIME’s 2024 Kid of the Year
TIME's Kid of the Year initiative is a prestigious award recognizing exceptional young people who significantly impact their communities and the world. These extraordinary individuals are selected based on their creativity, innovation, and leadership qualities.

2. **Background on Heman Bekele**
2009 saw the birth of Heman Bekele in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, into a middle-class family. At the age of 4, Heman's parents went to the United States. Her father, Wondwossen Bekele, works as a human resources consultant for the US Agency for International Development, while her mother, Muluemebet Getachew, is a teacher. She has two sisters: Liya is eight years younger than Heman, and Hasset is the eldest and one year older than Heman. His earliest impression of Africa as a child was of seeing labourers toiling under the intense heat of the sun.

Heman Bekele and his Beloved mother
The adolescent, a student at Woodson High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, was selected as the Young Scientist Challenge winner by the companies 3M and Discovery Education, out of ten applicants, and was awarded a $25,000 prize for his ground-breaking creation: a soap that can both treat and prevent skin cancer.
Salicylic acid, glycolic acid, and tretinoin are the main ingredients of Bekele's soap formula, which helps to reactivate dendritic cells. These cells are essential to the immune system because they help to seek and detect viruses. The idea also offers a significant financial benefit because, in the United States, the typical cost of a traditional chemotherapy treatment is close to forty thousand dollars, whereas the price of the bar would be about fifty cents.
Heman Bekele was named TIME's 2024 Kid of the Year and made his magazine cover appearance on August 15, 2024, the following year.

Heman Bekele in His Laboratory Room
3. **Accomplishments and Achievements**
- Key accomplishments that contributed to his selection
- Specific projects or initiatives that Bekele has been involved in
- Impact on the community and peers
Rebecca recalls reading about a small child who came up with the concept of a skin cancer soap. "His desire to make it available to everyone intrigued me right away. I thought that was really cool. The CEO of the Melanoma Research Alliance then, by pure coincidence, presented me to Heman at this meeting. His enthusiasm was clear from the start of our chat. Upon discovering that he resided in Virginia, which is rather close by, I informed him that I would be delighted for him to visit the lab at any time.

Cancer Soap
Heman pursued that suggestion, and Rebecca consented to support him by serving as his principal investigator and inviting him to work at the lab in Baltimore, alternating between benchwork and coursework from Fairfax.
Heman and Rebecca have been conducting basic research on mice for almost six months. They have been injecting the animals with skin cancer strains and getting ready to apply the lipid-bound, imiquimod-infused soap to see the effects. Heman is aware that "there's still a long way to go"—not only do they need to test the soap but also obtain FDA certification and file for a patent, both of which can take up to 10 years—even though they are preparing to test it and control against melanoma.

The fact that Heman will still be only 25 years old when that decade ends—an age at which medical students have not even finished their postgraduate education—is a testament to his significant advantage over other students. He's using that time wisely. He's not just developing his notion but also pushing it. He spoke in front of 8,000 attendees at the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists gathering in June at Boston's Tsongas Center. He claims that although it was nerve-racking, it was enjoyable.
for more information read:https://time.com/6996507/heman-bekele/
4. **Heman’s Vision and Goals**
- Insights into Bekele's future aspirations
- How he plans to effect change in his community and beyond
Heman also enjoys himself in more traditional ways. He plays the trombone and flute in the Woodson High School marching band. He plays chess as "a turn-my-brain-off-and-play kind of thing," plays basketball, and reads a ton—especially fantasy, though he recently reread The Great Gatsby, which he calls "a very decent read."
He attributes his accomplishments to his family, especially his parents. His father Wondwossen works as a human resources consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development, while his mother Muluemebet is a teacher.

He has a strong desire to pursue the unlikely and even the seemingly unachievable because of their example of selflessness in moving to a foreign nation to support their children's education.
Additionally, other individuals are guiding him on his extensive scientific trip besides his parents and Rebecca. Deborah Isabelle, his 3M mentor, also assists him.
"Somethings didn't work the way he expected at one time when he was preparing the soap," she explains. "I then questioned him, What didn't work? How did you proceed? He was like, "Wow, I didn't really follow the directions," when we discussed it. We then had a talk about that, and after that, he was able to come up with some conclusions and say, "Okay, this is what I learnt from that."
Heman believes that through this kind of trial and error, he will eventually be able to use his health-promoting soap to treat cancer in its early stages, even in so-called Stage 0, when it is still just a small growth that is not yet having much of an impact on the skin's surface, and later on, as a supplement to other treatments.
Despite all, Heman maintains his modesty over his accomplishments in just 15 years. He asserts, "Anybody could achieve what I did." “I had an idea just now.
I was able to realize the concept through my efforts. He acknowledges, however, that he is also concerned. He fears that people may have reached a point of saturation because technological advances in artificial intelligence, engineering, and medicine seem to be happening more quickly than before.
"Many people think that everything has already been done and they have nothing more to do," he says. "I would say that there would always be ideas in this world for anyone who could be thinking that way. Simply never stop creating. Continue to come up with fresh ideas for how to make our world a better place.
—With Julia Zorthian providing reporting
Which invention from the past 100 years is your favourite, and why?
Without a doubt, one of the most significant inventions of the past 100 years is the digital camera. The camera has completely changed the way we perceive and comprehend the world around us by enabling us to record and preserve our memories and experiences. With the advent of digital cameras and smartphones, we can now capture and share our experiences in ways that were unattainable, going back to the days of film photography.
The camera has evolved into a necessary tool for recording our lives and giving them greater significance, whether it is by capturing the wonder of the natural world, the happiness of family get-togethers, or the excitement of new experiences. The digital camera is my favourite technology of the last century because it makes it possible for us to share our stories with future generations and connect with our past through the preservation of our memories and experiences.
In fifteen years, I want to be...
A prosperous electrical engineer who has had a big impact on the field. I see myself heading a group of experts in the creation of cutting-edge electrical systems that will influence technology in the future. I aspire to have a happy personal life with a loving family and a supportive circle of friends in addition to my career accomplishments. In addition, I want to have mentored aspiring engineers and supported programs that advance STEM education in my community. In the end, I want my career and personal pursuits to have had a beneficial influence on the world in 15 years.
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