My name is Ivonne Martinez and I am the US IT Manager at

PricewaterhouseCoopers

(PwC) in Sacramento. My passion has always been serving and helping others through non-profit organizations and it continues to be an exciting part even at PwC.

In the summer of 2000 a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) at PwC announced his resignation to serve as a controller of the Cameroon Baptist Convention in West Africa. He described his work there as fulfilling and rewarding. On his second year in the field, he returned and asked me to help him in his accounting department.

They were years behind in technology, still using DOS programs and floppy diskettes. Many challenges were presented and I never thought we could do it. ACCPAC software, an accounting software application, needed to be upgraded from its DOS version five times.

In 2003 a group of five of us, raised the financial support and installed the first network of ten PCs. While in Cameroon, we met a former employee of PwC named George Njock who approached me with his dream of networking the CBC hospitals where he currently worked. With no telephone systems, no networks and poor medical equipment, we began to see that the Cameroon hospitals were in desperate need of a transformation.

The dream of mobilizing people in the states began.

I approached the US IT leadership and we began a connection that became and incredible result of donations of old network equipment for the people of Cameroon. We sent the equipment to Africa from PwC. At the same time a hospital in Kansas City was replacing their PC's so they donated old 500 PC's.

Trip Highlights:

• The 2004 team had a medical team that included the personal nurse of our California Governor Mr Arnold so we had the support of some of the State officials.
• In 2005, a Hewlett Packard employee who holds an international leadership position in the company helped teaching classes. We reached out to 200 AIDS orphans with a Vacation Bible School, with a 100 backpacks prepared by the Sacramento PwC office.
• In 2005, we have had a medical team who taught AIDS prevention classes to CBC medical staff, two instructors who taught Microsoft Office, and teachers who did a vacation school for AIDS orphans.
• In 2003, with the help of the Orange County PwC office we were able to send out 400 children's bags full of notebooks and toiletries that they made.

Current Efforts:

Lee Overstreet, PwC Office Managing Partner in Sacramento, approached me and asked me to find a way to help the children during the holidays and the idea of incorporating the kids in our United Way campaign was born.

Lee and the rest of the partners agreed to match dollar by dollar all the United Way donations received that went to the AIDS orphans in Cameroon. The first year we raised $20,000 and in our second year there are still donations being received.

So the project continues, as we are preparing to raise the funds for a 2007 team. This team now includes a group of PwC staff who are willing to take their vacations and serve Cameroon. Our goal this time will be to install a server and a wireless Motorola canopy system that will connect five buildings in that hospital (the max distance of the wireless equipment is three miles).

Also, the AIDS orphans program began in this hospital so the members will minister to these kids as well. Many from the New York PwC office have already volunteered to help the kids as well.