El Dentista

For the past nine years, Dr. John Snively has packed up a mobile dental clinic and headed out towards rural, indigenous communities in Guatemala. The 73-year-old, retired dentist, who splits his time between two beautiful, small cabins — one overlooking Kootenay Lake in Queen’s Bay, BC, and the other overlooking Lake Atitlan in Tzununa — has always had an inclination towards being of service. For much of his working career he volunteered at clinics in the Canadian high arctic and when he began spending his winters in Guatemala he once again felt the pull to help in some way.

He also recognizes that the kind of work he does — primarily extractions and fillings — acts only as a temporary bandaid atop much larger systemic problems like malnutrition, lack of education and poverty that stem from corrupt, oppressive governments in a country still reeling from the impacts of a U.S.-instigated and backed 36-year civil war that officially ended in 1996. Unofficially, foreign investment by international corporations still has a heavy, bloody hand on Guatemala’s environment and indigenous communities with Canada’s mining sector being one of the most destructive forces — an irony not lost on Dr. Snively.

To read the full story, originally published in Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine, click here.