Work in Zambia

Zambia: Our Founding Partnership

Through our partnership, Hope Ministries provides high-impact nutrition, education and healthcare programming to over 550 vulnerable children in Zambia.

At the launch of the Spark Ventures partnership, Hope served 70 children in a rented facility with no paid staff, no supplies, meals or health services. Today, Hope has a thriving campus serving over 550 children and their families year-round. Students receive their only or best meal of the day here, and are tested for malaria and other diseases at the campus clinic. Hope has been recognized as one of the highest-performing schools in Zambia, with national exam scores significantly surpassing the national average. This is an exceptional achievement for a school that prioritizes enrolling students who have faced barriers to education such as interrupted schooling or a lack of prior formal education.

Spark has created over 40 jobs through partnership support, including agriculture jobs through a poultry farm and vegetable farm launched to contribute profits back to the school.

Since 2007, over 400 Spark travelers have helped with leadership training & financial accountability, launched & supported a computer lab, inspired hundreds of children through a reading program, spent time in the classroom teaching students & learning alongside Hope staff & teachers and provided medical care through annual clinics.

"Before the pandemic they had 3 laptops to teach the Computer Studies curriculum… now they have 30."

"Spark Ventures instills transparency and consistent collaboration with our partner organizations via multiple, ongoing touch-points, including: weekly calls, monthly reports, quarterly visits and an annual audit."

"Since 2021, all teachers have Chromebooks which they use for administrative tasks, creating tests and worksheets, supplementing their curriculum, sharing online content, etc."

"Hope has been recognized as one of the highest-performing schools in Zambia, with national exam scores significantly surpassing the national averages."

"The programs and operations are designed so as not to perpetuate a dependency syndrome in the communities they are operating, but to make them self sustainable. As the African proverb states, ‘It takes the whole village to raise a child.’ In this case it is a global village."

Head Teacher Ng’oma - Hope Community School Spark Ventures Social Impact Partner, Zambia

Before (2006)

70 children

Rented facility

No meals, no healthcare

No textbooks, supplies

No paid staff

After (Today)

Over 550 children

Campus with school & clinic & computer lab

Daily meals, bi-annual clinics, library stocked with books, preschool

Books, uniforms, computer lab, computer lab with over 40 Chromebooks and PCs

20 School faculty + numerous other jobs

25 acre vegetable farm

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See this work in action!

Powerful and authentic experiences for the purposeful traveler.

Embark on an adventure that will expand your definition of community. Engage in authentic cultural exchanges and deep relationship building through Spark Ventures’ vetted, local partnerships. We empower travelers to use their skills and resources to do good.

Our experiences are culturally empowering, mutually beneficial and focused on lasting impact.

Plan your trip to Zambia today

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