OUR STORY
In Our Own Words
OUR VOLUNTEERS
"It felt like we were doing something that was truly making a difference...The people [at the hospital] were so appreciative of us being down there and helping them out."
- Brennan Schumacher, volunteer
“Embracing the culture and community where we volunteer adds perspective to an already gratifying experience. I found that the people we met were generally in high spirits, despite the daily struggles they faced; this reaffirmed that our time and efforts were well spent.”
- Hugh Daniels, volunteer
“I will spend the rest of my life looking for equally rewarding opportunities to provide technical input to support the people who need it the most!”
– Emily Corwin, volunteer
OUR TEAM
“The electricity that powers the hospital is often the only light source for the entire town… it’s important to the entire community. The children often study in the streets at night by the light provided by the hospital.”
- Ron Bourgault, advisor and volunteer
"We spent all day listening to the mayors, the ministers of health, the local health providers in three clinics, and a school tell us that the solar power and water purification systems allowed them to provide much better medical services to their people than ever before.”
- Walt Vernon, volunteer and founder
OUR MISSION
It Takes a Village
Since 2014, Sextant has been working to bring resilient, sustainable healthcare infrastructure to those in need around the world. Generous donors, corporate partners, and determined volunteers allow us to work with community members to deliver critical solutions that protect the health of both stakeholders and the planet for the long-term. We at Sextant believe that, together, we can harness ecologically sustainable, human-centered design to benefit those in need for generations to come.
HOW WE GOT STARTED
After earthquakes devastated Haiti in 2010, it was hard to see how Walt could help. He had experience in engineering, not medicine, but all around him, so many were in desperate need of emergency care. Then a clinician explained the need for resilient infrastructure—buildings, power, water, supply storage—and offered a simple suggestion: "That’s what you can do." Years later, Walt’s efforts and motivations from his experience in Haiti culminated in the creation of Sextant. Since 2014, Sextant has worked to bring robust, sustainable healthcare solutions to disaster zones and under-resourced areas throughout the world. We couple innovative engineering techniques with a commitment to center the experiences of those in need within solutions designed to protect their well being and that of the planet.