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Doctors return from trip to Guatemala

Two doctors have returned from a 10-day trip to provide services to people living in rural communities near Comitancillo in Guatemala.
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Two doctors have returned from a 10-day trip to provide services to people living in rural communities near Comitancillo in Guatemala.

Dr. Rebecca Kolbenson, optometrist, and Dr. Shane Van Biezen, dentist, joined a team of other optometrists and dentists in Guatemala to provide eye and dental exams.

The five towns they visited while they were there had not been service by healthcare providers before, and some of the problems the people were facing were irreversible, explained Kolbenson.

The exams took place mostly in schools, which were good working conditions, Kolbenson said. Six dentists saw more than 400 patients in four days, and pulled hundreds of teeth.

“Treatment was limited to extractions and fillings,” Van Biezen said. “We also provided preventative care that included the use of fluoride treatments and educating parents on proper dental care. Overall, it was very well received.

The experience was rewarding, but it came with its challenges, Kolbenson said. Typically, she can work alone while doing her exams because she knows enough Spanish, but in most cases she experienced a language barrier in the rural communities where they speak Mam, which is a Mayan language.

“It can be very challenging when you are trying to explain why and what you are going to do when you cannot speak the same language,” Van Biezen added. “We had an unbelievable team of translators who made this somewhat possible.”

It was also surprising to Kolbenson that most of the people she provided glasses for were nearsighted, which meant that the hundreds of pairs of glasses she brought with her were all given away to people in need. The glasses were donated by residents in Golden, who, as Canadians, are typically nearsighted because of spending a lot of time in school, reading, and indoors.

There was one man who traveled across the valley with his 90-year-old father on his back to get him an eye and dental exam.

Unfortunately, he had end stage macular degeneration, which could not be treated, but Kolbenson was impressed that he brought his father on his back to see the doctors.

Van Biezen and his team of dentists set up basic working conditions, laying patients down on a table covered with a shower curtain, asking them to spit into a garbage when needed because they didn’t have any suction.

“We brought all our own instruments and anesthetic. We ensured that they received the same quality dental care I would give my patients in my own clinic,” he said. “These experiences are very rewarding. That’s why I love doing them each year. We get to see a whole different side of their culture that I don’t think you would normally get to see. It means a lot of me to be able to provide care for these people.”