Author: Spark Ventures

Spark Ventures | business development, community programs, education, healthcare, nutrition, organization, partnership trip, report from the field, socent, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, social good, travel, zambia | No comment

Lab Coats and Chickens

On our Partnership Trips, we spend the vast majority of our time with the children at Hope Village. Their smiles and laughter and friendship are so very powerful and memorable. But, there's another piece to the Spark story here in Zambia that we are overwhelmingly...

26 January

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Transformation Stories in Zambia

Teacher Judy got tears in her eyes when she told us the family we were visiting did not even have blankets to sleep under.Transformation stories, like the one our travelers experienced yesterday, have long formed a critical piece of our Partnership Trip itinerary. On these...

24 January

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Spark Ventures | organization, partnership trip, report from the field, travel, zambia | No comment

What Are You Doing in Zambia?

“If I travel with Spark, what will I be doing?” It’s a question that we get often and one of the reasons we created this blog was for the opportunity to share about the activities and adventures we have while visiting our partners in Zambia...

23 January

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Making New Friends in Zambia

Our January group of travelers has already made a whole school-worth of new friends here in Zambia. Check out just a few photos from our first two days here:...

21 January

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Spark Ventures | business development, organization, report from the field, socent, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, travel, zambia | No comment

Poultry Farm 2.0

I spent the last three days working with the team here in Zambia responsible for the poultry farm. Spark made the initial financial investment back in 2011 and the Hope Ventures poultry farm was born. Even though I’ve visited the farm every six months since...

20 January

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Preventative Maintenance Day at Hope School

When I arrived at Hope Community School mid-afternoon for the second day of computer training with Teacher Lewis and Teacher Angela, I found the students just leaving their classrooms and heading out to the big open yard in front of the school to participate in...

17 January

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Be Zam-bitious!

Driving around Ndola today, the radio kept playing the same ad, one for ZamTel (a cell phone service provider around here). I wasn’t so captivated by their offer of discounted talk-time (cell phone minutes for the phones here), but the catch phrase they closed each...

16 January

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Stay Tuned: Blogging from Zambia

This is the spot. With a handful of travelers boarding planes this week, we're poised to launch yet another transformative Partnership Trip adventure in Zambia. And, we'll be chronicling all the fun right here, on the Spark blog.Rich and I both landed in Zambia today....

15 January

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Spark Ventures | business development, nicaragua, report from the field, socent, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, social good, travel | No comment

First few days in Nicaragua

Sunday, January 12th, 2014 7:00pm-ish León, Nicaragua Sitting in a corner Italian restaurant, one of the few places open in León on a Sunday night, a number of thoughts pop up as I observe the people around me. To my direct right is what looks like a married...

13 January

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Congratulations Hope Community School!

Congratulations Hope Ministries Grade 7 (& their teachers!)Back in November, when we were planning our Thanksgiving dinner, the 7th grade students at Hope Community School were deep in their studies, preparing for their national exams. The results are in, and what better way to ring...

08 January

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