Local surgeon continues efforts to bring dental and medical services to Guatemalan community

By Don McCormick

Dr. Hector Roldan, a general surgeon in Huntsville and the chief of surgery for Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, is a man who considers himself to have had a privileged existence and believes in giving back.

Dr. Roldan is a native Guatemalan who grew up and was educated in Guatemala. In 1997 he and his family emigrated to Canada, eventually moving to Huntsville in 2007. He and a colleague, Juan Carlos Vasquez, an industrial engineer from Dr. Roldan’s hometown in Guatemala, have been working on a project for the past nine years to bring educational and healthcare facilities and services to one of the poorest regions in Guatemala.

“I always looked at the disparities and inequalities when I grew up there and my motivation is to give back to my country,” says Dr. Roldan. “They [the Guatemalans] need a little hand, an opportunity, to be self-sustainable. I had an opportunity in Canada and my friend Juan Carlos had an opportunity in the States. We have been able to be successful because we had a chance. We would like to give some other people a chance.”

They registered as a charity in Guatemala, Canada, and the US and began fundraising and recruiting volunteers. They purchased land and, to date, have built two buildings—a dental clinic and a school—and a water supply system. The charity provides the funding and locals are hired to do the building. Eventually they hope to recruit volunteers from our local communities to help with construction and organization, to provide medical and dental services, and so on. The plan calls for another school building, a medical building, and a guest house to house and feed visiting volunteers.

The organization—Optimum Services Organization Inc.—has conducted a local GoFundMe campaign and has had some success raising funds, but another $15,000 is required to install services in the buildings to make them fully functional. About half of that has already been donated. As well, additional funding will be required to surface the road into the facility and to build a protective wall around the site. The cost of that project will be about $20,000.

As well as receiving donations of money, the organization has also received donations of goods, equipment, and professional advice. For example, a US dentist donated three complete dental cubicles valued at about $150,000.

Adrian Musters, a local retired dentist and former dentist of Dr. Roldan’s family, volunteered to advise on the design of the dental clinic and provided the blueprints. He is planning to travel there in September to help hire staff and get the dental clinic up and running. There will be a locally hired dentist staffing the facility and it is Musters’ intention is to go down there periodically to volunteer his services.

For people who are interested in supporting Dr. Roldan’s project, donations can be made on their website, www.o-s-o.org, or the Go Fund Me campaign here. There are also pictures of the site showing the current buildings and the works underway.

“This is a long-term project,” says Dr. Roldan. “Eventually, when I retire from my work here in North America I would like to go back and forth, creating connections with what I have here, arranging student exchanges, providing another way to educate people.”

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