Making Dreams into Reality with #graduation4all
They want to be teachers, pilots, the first in their family to be a doctor...
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25
June
Author: Spark Ventures
Spark Ventures
| business development, community programs, nicaragua, organization, report from the field, socent, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, social good, travel | No comment
A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words…
Spark Ventures partners with local organizations that help vulnerable children, with current partnerships in Zambia and Nicaragua. Spark's unique partnership model focuses on sustaining the organizations it works with. Spark's partners receive on-going training and consultation in areas of personnel management, infrastructure, organizational growth and...
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06
June
Spark Ventures
| community programs, healthcare, nutrition, public health, report from the field, zambia | No comment
North Park University Students Venture to Zambia to Host Clinic
A team of nursing students from North Park University have just completed one of the biannual clinics at our partner organization in Zambia supported by Spark. The nursing students, working alongside a Zambian doctor and nurses treated over 350 children from Hope House Orphanage and...
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04
June
Spark Ventures
| #graduation4all, community programs, education, events, social good, spark ventures | No comment
Dreams Can Become Realities…#graduation4all
Have you met Cecilia yet?Cecilia is a vibrant girl, one of those characters that is hard to miss. This year she will graduate from 7th grade at Hope Community school, likely at the top of her class. Cecilia wants to be a doctor or a...
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29
May
Spark Ventures
| nicaragua, partnership trip, report from the field, spark ventures, travel | No comment
Mojitos, Mombacho and Monkeys
Every day seems more busy than the last on a Spark Ventures partnership trip. It is always fun to relax at the end of each day to reflect on experiences and get to know other travelers. On this recent trip to Nicaragua, we...
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09
May
Spark Ventures
| Board of Directors, chicago, news, non-profit, nonprofit, NPTalk, organization, socent, spark, spark ventures | No comment
New Directors Join Spark Board
With only four full-time employees, Spark’s board members play an incredibly important role in expanding our capacity as an organization. That’s one reason we are very excited to have added four new directors in the last year. Let us introduce you to them….Jeff Plaisted has...
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08
May
Spark Ventures
| community programs, education, nicaragua, nutrition, report from the field, travel | No comment
Food, Fun, and New Friends
While visiting our partners, Spark trip participants are able to be a part of ongoing programs as well as special activities. At the core of our partner programs is the Las Tias daily meal program. Most of the children come from homes...
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07
May
Spark Ventures
| community programs, education, nicaragua, partnership trip, report from the field, travel | No comment
Transformation Stories: Allison
One of the incredibly important activities, included in every Partnership Trip Spark facilitates, is what we call a "Transformation Story." In Nicaragua, this is an opportunity to visit one of the beneficiaries of Las Tías in their home. Their generous families invite our travelers into...
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27
April
Spark Ventures
| community programs, nicaragua, partnership trip, report from the field, spark ventures, travel | No comment
Day 2: Games and Culture
Day two was a full one as our nine trip participants spent the morning at the young kids center, the afternoon with the adolescents and the evening with the Las Tias team cooking (and eating!) dinner at the home of founder, Corina Alvarez. (Oh and...
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25
April
Spark Ventures
| community programs, education, nicaragua, partnership trip, report from the field, social good, spark ventures, travel | 1 Comment
Photos from our First Full Day
Check out a glimpse of the first full day of our travels in Nicaragua...
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23
April