I'm back in the office after another great and busy day. After heading back to the office from the school yesterday, I did some work on financial forecasting for the poultry farm before heading home to find the four North Park students that will be...
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Hello again! I made it to Ndola! (I can't say the same for one of my suitcases though...
Read MoreI'm currently waiting in London Heathrow airport for my next flight, which will get me onto the African continent, dropping me in Johannesburg, South Africa before another flight that will take me to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. From there I take a short flight...
Read MoreHello All! This is Joann, Program Director of Spark Ventures.As we approach the New Year, I am heading off to Zambia to work with our partner organization, Hope Ministries, on issues ranging from accounting practices to poultry farming. I'm excited to share my trip with...
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(Rich again..this time writing from Johannesburg, South Africa)On Friday I gave a seminar to the entire Hope Ministries staff about Spark’s Partnership Model. I explained our mission is to come alongside of grassroots organizations like theirs and help to first stabilize, then strengthen and finally...
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(This is Rich)Saturday, June 26 was the dedication of the Shelby Goldstein Schoolhouse in Twapia--a village outside of Ndola, Zambia. Last year Spark Ventures raised the money to fund the construction of this new 7 classroom building serving now more than 350 orphans...
Read MoreJoann here again! This post is also coming a tiny bit late. It was written yesterday on our way to Lusaka. Hope you enjoy it!Over the last three days we have accomplished and seen a great deal, and we have had a great time throughout!...
Read MoreThis post was written on June 24, but we've haven't had the chance to post it. I hope you enjoy it! (This is Joann again!)Our day yesterday was a true eye-opener. We started by visiting a government school and a private school in Ndola,...
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This is Rich. I landed in Zambia’s capital city of Lusaka on Friday night after a delay in Washington DC. After a quick night of sleep, I spent all of Saturday with Charles Mumba and Sandie Kandolo (Executive Director and Chair of the...
Read MoreOur long-awaited June 2010 Transformation Trip has officially begun! We had a soft opening on Friday when Brady and Liz, a first-time Transformation Trip participant, arrived in Zambia, but we are now fully in the midst of our trip with today's arrival of Nancy and...
Read MoreThere has been lots of great progress and excitement the last couple days! We have completed all the sponsorship updates and letters except for those children who have been absent this week, and the translators, the Mulando family and I had a celebratory dinner at...
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We've had another productive, though very windy, day at the school today! We've completed all of the updates and letters for the students who have been in attendance the last few days, and I even re-took the photos for all of Grades 5, 6 and...
Read MoreI don't have much time to post today because Ba Rodgers (one of the Hope drivers), Ba Margaret (Hope co-director) and Ba Lillian (Hope board member) are waiting for me downstairs in the office parking lot!I'll just say that it's been another super productive day,...
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It has been another long and productive day here in Zambia. After getting through all of the Grade 3 and 4 student sponsorship updates and half of the Grade 2 student sponsorship updates, the staff and I took a brief break before jumping right into...
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Wow. I cannot even describe how productive the Hope team and I were today! It was utterly amazing. I was expecting to do all of the Grade 7 sponsorship updates, maybe also some of Grade 6 if we were really productive. By 10AM, which was...
Read MoreAfter nearly 30 hours of travel, I have finally arrived in Ndola, Zambia, home of our partner, Hope Ministries!The journey was long, though surprisingly entertaining. The man sitting next to me on the flight to London had very clearly had a few preparatory drinks, and...
Read MoreIt’s hard to believe that in just under 30 hours, I will be taking off for Zambia to visit Spark’s partner Hope Ministries! I will be joined shortly thereafter by Rich (Spark’s Executive Director), Brady Josephson (Spark’s Director of Resource Development) and a great group...
Read MoreAs Rich and I made our long journey home from Ndola after a very productive, often hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking trip, three themes about life in Ndola kept coming to mind.Death and LossIt did not take long to recognize the far reach of death in...
Read MoreFriday night before Joann and I left we had one fantastic last dinner at Hope House with the children and staff. It was the first time I had “village rice”--which I loved, but anyone who knows me won’t be surprised at that. When I asked...
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