|
January 14, 2002
The education and information resources of the Internet are available for the first time to a struggling audience in Leon, Nicaragua through the technology contributions of World Internet Resources for Education and Development (WiRED), a San Francisco-based international nonprofit organization, and two partner organizations.
The new high-speed access facility developed by the partner organizations will enable health care professionals, school children, and disadvantaged individuals in Leon to take advantage of Internet information and communication for free.
The project was developed through a partnership between WiRED International, Polus Center, a Massachusetts nonprofit serving the disabled, and Walking Unidos in Leon. WiRED donated the 20 computer systems with printers for the project as well as technical and management expertise. Polus Center and Walking Unidos provided planning and management resources.
Speaking at the recent opening ceremonies for the Cyber Cafe, Dr. Gary Selnow, Executive Director of WiRED and a professor at San Francisco State University, explained, "WiRED aims to provide more than just computers and technology; our goal is to give disadvantaged people the technology, skills, and full ability to improve their lives and to participate in creating progress for their communities through the information and resources available on the Internet."
Now that the project is in operation, Walking Unidos will manage and operate the facility in conjunction with its activities providing free prosthetics for victims of land mines left over from Nicaragua's civil war in the 1980's. In addition to the free Internet services for school children, health care workers and the poor, the general public will be able to access the Internet for $2 per hour. University students will be able to use the services at a reduced rate. All proceeds generated by use of the computers will benefit Walking Unidos' primary goal of providing free prosthetics for victims of land mines and other accidents.
WiRED will continue to work towards the success and ongoing development of the project by offering technical advice and by providing training programs to develop both local management of the project and employable skills for the disabled clients of Walking Unidos.
Since its inception in 1997, WiRED has been instrumental in developing Community Information Centers in many areas of the world. The initial project in Vukovar, Croatia was the first of many Centers set up by WiRED throughout the Balkans to help connect communities in the Balkans with each other and with the rest of the world through the resources of the Internet.
Recent funding from the National Institutes of Health supports a cooperative effort by WiRED and Global Strategies for HIV Prevention (GSHP) to create five Community Health Information Centers in Kenya. These Centers around the country will act as medical research and communication facilities for Kenya's fight against the spread of HIV infection.
WiRED is a San Francisco-based, non-governmental, nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing the vast information resources of the Internet to disadvantaged people in troubled areas of the world. Funding for WiRED projects comes from private individuals, corporations, humanitarian foundations in the United States and abroad, and from government organizations such as USAID, the U.S. State Department, and the National Institutes of Health.
^ Back to the Top
|
