Our Story

A Vision To Solve A Serious Social Problem

As a seasoned business entrepreneur, Michael Spraggins sensed an underserved market amidst Sub-Saharan Africa’s staggering mortality figures, when others simply saw despair. Michael’s personal desire to serve the poor led him beyond the stats to wrestle with the root problems facing Africa’s poor and marginalized.  Peter Greer, President of HOPE International, encouraged Michael to apply his entrepreneurial experience and the lessons learned from microfinance to address the global poor’s medical needs. Michael recruited Jonathan O’Connor, an investment analyst, and Carol Hanselman, a registered nurse, and LifeNet (LN) was born.

Designing the Model

The team wanted to focus on a country facing both severe poverty and significant disease burden; so when Peter suggested the team consider Burundi, one of HOPE International’s partner countries, they realized there was an immediate match. Burundi recently emerged from a 12-year ethnic-based civil war that killed over 300,000 people and destroyed much of the country’s feeble economic base.  The country also has the world’s lowest GDP per capita at less than $300 USD, a life expectancy below 50 and an infant mortality rate exceeding 10%.

Finding the Best Solution

In the spring of 2009, LifeNet enlisted a Wharton MBA student team to test the initial idea – ramping up Burundi’s pharmaceutical supply chain – and deemed it a feasible option that would accomplish both goals. With this consultation, Carol flew to Burundi to determine on-the-ground viability. She found that the most significant missing component in the supply chain was further upstream, at the point of consultation and diagnosis.

Jonathan moved to Burundi in the fall of 2009 to launch LN’s local operations. LN again refined its model to build on the most promising segment of the Burundian medical space: church-owned medical clinics. These centers were established by churches to serve impoverished, often overlooked clients. Yet these clinics were eager for additional training that would help them better serve their clients. Jonathan believed that by partnering with these clinics through conversion franchising, LN could provide each clinic with caregiver training and consultancy, thus heightening its quality of care and expanding its reach to more people.

A Successful Start With An Eye To The Future

Through angel funding and generous volunteers, including a Master’s-prepared nurse from Israel and a lawyer from Skadden, LN is launching its pilot project in Burundi and plans to partner with a nationwide network of church clinics.  LN is also expanding its on-the-ground staff in Burundi to establish a stronger lasting presence. It is LN’s goal to transform the quality of and access to primary healthcare, one clinic at a time.