Hello Spark friends! It is so exciting to start 2012 off with a trip to Zambia! After leaving the US on Thursday evening, I arrived in Zambia this morning and had a smooth and (relatively) restful trip. It feels great to be back in Lusaka,...
Read More
Although the school year has ended for the students at Hope Community School in Zambia, the children were eager to return to their school during their December break for a very special event - to hear their test scores for the year. This event is...
Read More
The lack of health care for children in Zambia is one of the most difficult challenges this country faces. For that reason, we help to facilitate a clinic twice per year for all students and staff at the Hope School. This November was the first...
Read More
Working in the non-profit world, we have the opportunity to meet so many inspiring individuals. Hearing their stories inspired us to start a new blog series, "Interview with a Philanthropist". Our first interview? None other than our very own Rich Johnson!Prior to starting Spark Ventures,...
Read More
We can do more together than we can alone.We are proud to announce our 4th Annual Fall Event, “We Are Spark”! You are invited to attend this unforgettable event on Friday, November 4th. Expect cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, live performances, inspiring video and plenty of...
Read MoreWe spent a beautiful final two days in Zambia, and we got to see the incredible Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The magnitude of this natural wonder was really beyond words. We were lucky to go on a beautiful and...
Read MoreWe started off early this morning for Lusaka, where the poultry farm that Hope Ministries started is located. The farm was launched with capital from Spark Ventures, and its profits will be reinvested in Hope's school and orphanage. It was a long drive, about five...
Read MoreOur last day in Ndola started off with what I find to be the most powerful part of my trips here. The trip participants broke up into smaller groups, and each group walked with one of the Hope students to his/her home to learn more...
Read MoreHi again all! Yesterday we had another day of beautiful weather, enthusiastic kids and new experiences. The main stop of the day was at Hope's former school and orphanage, two rented buildings that Hope used before it built the Shelby Goldstein Schoolhouse and the new...
Read MoreHello again from Ndola! We’ve had a great first couple days of our Partnership Trip here in Zambia. On Monday, after our history, culture and Bemba lessons with Charles, we were received with a beautiful welcome at the school. All of the Hope students sang...
Read MoreOur Partnership Trip started yesterday, and all of our trip participants arrived safe and sound! For the most part, everyone's flights seemed to have been on time and smooth, though after traveling for a day and a half, the group was still a bit worn...
Read MoreMama Lillian tells great stories. With every story she tells, you can see the various emotions and thoughts from the event rising back up, and she tells her stories like she's reliving them. One of her recent stories was about a woman she met when...
Read MoreTo give you an idea of what a ridiculous and wonderful day I’ve had today, I’ll tell you how it started. While eating porridge with Mama Lillian and Nkhongono, I see Mama Lillian stand up and start yelling out the window at Uncle Jay. I...
Read MoreHi all! It’s been another productive day as we managed to get updates and letters for more of the students who had missed class on previous days this week. Shortly after finishing our work on updates and letters, we had a quick lunch and started...
Read MoreHello again! After I left you yesterday, I hurried home to have a delicious meal of nshima, fish, chicken, cabbage, gravy and mashed potatoes with my host family. It was such a wonderful and satisfying meal, and having nshima after six months away...
Read MoreAfter a harrowing and highly unusual journey, I arrived in Ndola on Saturday feeling fairly rested and ready to get to work. I managed to squeeze in a meeting with the translators, mostly Hope staff and supporters, who would be helping me with sponsorship updates...
Read MoreWell, I am in Ndola. Between my last blog post and now, I have lived a comedy of travel errors, so saying that I’m in Ndola feels much more like an accomplishment than I would normally think. The following (very long) post will read a...
Read MoreHello again, all! After a slight delay in Chicago, I've made it safely to London and am now faced with the terrible decision of what brand (or if we're being honest, brands) of delicious European chocolate to indulge in. :)The flight to London, the first...
Read MoreHello friends!For those of you who are new to Spark or to our blog, I'm Joann Chen, Spark's Program Director. I'm excited to kick off the blogging for my upcoming trip to Zambia, for which I leave on Wednesday. I'll be with our partner organization,...
Read More
If you’ve traveled to Zambia, you know that time orientation in this country is quite different than our Western view. This being my 10th visit to Spark’s partners here, I have a much greater appreciation and understanding of these differences than on my first trip...
Read More