The Spark Blog – Page 8 – Spark Ventures

Spark Ventures | community programs, education, nicaragua, non-profit, organization, partnership trip, report from the field, spark, spark ventures, travel | No comment

It’s about the little things

If you are familiar with Spark Ventures, you likely know that our Partnership Trips provide the opportunity for Spark Investors to meet our international partners first-hand. Partnership Trips are an incredible way to join in cultural experiences, form new friendships, bond with the children...

12 March

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Escape the Polar Vortex with Spark in Nicaragua!

Tired of battling the cold and hearing words like "polar vortex" on a daily basis? Consider joining us on an upcoming Partnership Trip to Nicaragua. We will be traveling to visit our (tropically located) partner, Las Tías, on April 21-27, 2014.In addition to an escape...

24 February

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Chuck Norris is like Bacon. Universal.

One of my favorite parts of working at Spark is meeting new people who travel with us internationally. The time we spend together is an intense itinerary of spending time with our local partners, volunteering with our partners' beneficiaries, and getting to know the country...

18 February

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Investor Spotlight: Sue Bernstein

Our Investor Spotlight series focuses in on engaged members of the Spark Ventures community. This month, we sit down with Sue Bernstein who is one of the growing number of Spark supporters to have traveled with us to Nicaragua and Zambia to meet both of...

12 February

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Spark Ventures | partnership trip, spark ventures, travel, zambia | 1 Comment

Lions!

Our safari in Chobe National Park in Botswana far exceeded anyone's expectations - including Rich, who has taken this trip countless times before.The animals of all kinds are always impressive and breathtaking, but undoubtedly the highlight for everyone yesterday was catching a whole pride of...

27 January

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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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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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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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Happy New Year!

It has been a tremendous year. Our partnerships are benefiting hundreds of children in Zambia & Nicaragua. And, thanks to supporters like you, we are more energized than ever. We look forward to sharing our plans for an exciting 2014 and working with you to...

03 January

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Spark Ventures | business development, news, non-profit, nonprofit, report from the field, socent, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, zambia | No comment

12,000 New Chickens in Zambia!

Three weeks ago, 12,000 chicks arrived at the poultry farm in Zambia, the first large scale cycle in the farm's history. The Chair of the Hope Ventures Board was there to to give them a warm welcome!Roy Kaonga, Chair of the Hope Ventures Board greeting...

13 December

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Shop for Spark on Amazon Smile

Cyber Monday may have come and gone, but if you're anything like us, you still have people on your list to shop for. For a gift that will bring joy to your loved ones and support Spark’s partnerships lifting children in Zambia and Nicaragua out...

03 December

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5 Weeks & 13,000 Chickens In

I’m writing this two hours into my five and a half hour bus ride from Lusaka to Ndola. Predictably, the bus was as delayed coming in as it was leaving the station, taking another hour to crawl out of Lusaka and onto the Great North...

31 October

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Announcing: Groupon Partnership #2

We couldn't be more excited to share with you that Spark Ventures is partnering with Groupon to offer our 2014 Partnership Trips to Zambia. If you missed it, we partnered with Groupon in 2012 and it was a roaring success - our trips sold out...

29 October

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