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by Elizabeth Fine, Ph.D.
You can get just about anything you want at the Ben Linder Cybercafé. From simple sandwiches, soft drinks, and coffee, to a wide variety of dinner entrees, wine, beer, and cocktails. You can also surf the web, send email, and learn how to use a computer on one of the café's 20 computers.
Prices are reasonable for both the food and the computers. For 25 cordovas, you can get a bowl of chicken soup, and for 10 cordovas, you can order a cappuchino. A hamburger costs less than a U.S. dollar, and a local beer about the equivalent of 75 cents. The general public can use the computers for the equivalent of two dollars an hour, while university students can use them for half-price. Physicians can have free access, and twelve hours a week are free for children and the poor. The Ben Linder Cybercafé offers free computer training classes as well.
Improving the health of Nicaraguans was one of Ben Linder's dreams. To entice children to get their vaccinations, Linder used to ride through towns on a unicycle, dressed as a clown with a big red nose (see http://as1.ipfw.edu/weller/mulukukuchp2.html). Thus, it is fitting that the cybercafé is named after Ben Linder, since it too is dedicated to improving the health of the Nicaraguan people through its support of Walking Unidos and the health care initiatives of WiRED.
The Ben Linder Cybercafé is WiRED's first program in Nicaragua. It will serve as the hub of six new Community Health Information Centers which WiRED plans to establish in the towns of Chinandega, Matagalpa, Ocotal, Granada, Esteli and Leon.
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