Hello 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,...
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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...
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Yesterday was our first full day at the poultry farm. We began with a tour of the land and facilities from Ba Charles. The buildings are made of bricks. I have to admit that I still have a hard time comprehending the construction...
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In the last year, Agatha Kapiri joined the staff of Spark’s partner, Hope Ministries in Zambia. She is trained and educated as a social worker and has three main roles:1. Serves as lead House Mother at Hope House (orphanage) 2. Provides oversight and advocacy for...
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Rich and two Lenume videographers, Sam and Zach, at Hope MinistriesA while back, videographer Sam Sanchez of Lenume traveled to Zambia with me and a group of Spark investors. One of the videos that we worked on during that trip was our Partnerships...
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Yesterday’s post was a little intense, so I will lighten it up today.I tried some yogurt at dinner last night that was called “Forbidden Fruit of the Forest”. Sounds tempting, right? I thought so….and it was worth the indulgence. It is made from an African...
Read MoreSo I left out a small but rather significant part of what happened when we arrived in Ndola yesterday. I explained that we were picked up at the airport and taken straight to a Hope Ministries gathering. And I mentioned...
Read MoreI've lost count of how many trips I've made to Africa, but it's up around 10 or more. I'm fortunate I've come across a company like Jettly to take care of my travels. You can check out their blog, for it has everything you'd need...
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Continuing Spark's three-week series of stories of children whose lives have been transformed by the Spark-Hope partnership, we feature today the story of Astridah Selita, a student at Hope Community School fighting not only poverty but also HIV. Her story is one of the hundreds...
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Spark Ventures has some impressive numbers that help tell about our success….45,000 meals served last year, over $100,000 raised for a poultry farm, more than 300 children receiving free education at our partner school in Zambia. But sometimes the best way to communicate the impact...
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