WiRED founding board member, Dr. Richard Gilbert, is a World War II veteran who recently enjoyed an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC. to see the WWII Memorial. Rotarians, who supported the formative work of WiRED in the Balkans and Central America, are sending vets on similar trips to Washington from all over America.

WiRED is pleased to announce the addition of a new board member, Anthony Hodge, who is the retired president of Anthony Hodge & Associates, an executive search firm serving a wide range of industries and functional areas. With more than 30 years of experience in the field, Hodge has focused his work on telecommunications, data communications, financial services, and consumer products.

This month, WiRED launches a special fundraising campaign to renew its successful prevention program in Kenya by refurbishing four Community Health Information Centers (CHICs) in and around Nairobi. WiRED plans to enhance its prevention program in Kenya with new computers and educational material.

Before the WiRED CHIC was set up in Butula, no young person had ever seen a computer, except for those who had traveled out of the village, Mary Makokha told me when we met early this week. “In fact, because of the WiRED CHIC, many young people from Butula decided to go and study IT.”

There’s a saying that those who like films and sausages should never see how they’re made. A lot more happens behind the scenes than is readily visible. At the risk of wrecking the magic, we’d like to share a little about what went into the two video introductions now posted on the WiRED and ITN websites.

Soon after Kate Mayer started her work with WiRED, we all learned that her 13-year-old son, Clayton, had biphenotypic leukemia, a particularly rare form of the disease.

Over the last seven years, an estimated one million Kenyans have had access to accurate information about HIV/AIDS and other critical health-related topics thanks to WiRED’s Community Health Information Centers (CHICs). As WiRED makes plans to refurbish and update five CHICs in this country, we reflect on our past work and goals for the future.

When Zgjim Limani, MD, a physician specializing in ear, nose and throat (ENT) medicine, and his colleagues wanted to put together an international medical symposium in Prishtina, Kosova, they asked if WiRED could help arrange a teleconference from the United States. Dr. Limani had worked with WiRED in the past and knew about the newly formed International Telemedicine Network (ITN).

The University of California, Berkeley, recently selected WiRED International as the School of Public Health’s 2009 Organizational Public Health Hero. Berkeley recognized WiRED for “its achievements in using information technology to provide up-to-date health education and medical information to individuals in developing, post-conflict, and isolated regions of the world.”