Freehold Dentists Help Bring Smiles to Peruvian Families

This post was submitted by Jennifer Bradshaw, City of New Brunswick

In the 21 years that he’s been on the job, New Brunswick Fire Department Captain Chris Boyler has experienced many things.

Last month, Boyler had his greatest adventure yet as part of a humanitarian aid trip to administer medical and dental assistance to rural communities in the Andes mountains of Peru.

Boyler, an EMT-D with both emergency service and medical training, got involved in the trip after hearing about it from an involved friend.

The New Brunswick Fire Department is involved with a great deal of community outreach and volunteer projects, and he was motivated to take his community service to the next level, Boyler said.

Led by Dentists Jay Miller and Robert Gordon of Freehold and Dentist Howard Novak and Dr. Donald N. Weinberg of Vermont, the group of approximately 25 volunteers, coordinated by Rotary International and Charity Anywhere, spent May 13-23 on the trip.

After two days of travel, the group arrived in Casacunca, a remote village located in the province of Cusco, Peru.

They set up a clinic at a local school, where over 75 adults and children were seen by the dentists and doctors in two days.

The next stop on the trip was an orphanage in the outskirts of the City of Cusco, where they performed dental checks.

They then moved on to Pampahuaylla, an impoverished village accessible by a 2.5 hour bus ride through rough terrain, Boyler said.

In total, the volunteers treated more than 200 people.

While there, in addition to performing medical and dental treatments, the group painted a school that was under construction and hung doors.

Boyler kept busy by setting up the dental clinics, assisting with treatments and organizing work projects in the villages, including the construction of animal pens and the building of a barn.

Boyler said he was so moved by the trip that he hopes to travel to another region of the world next year to help bring more outreach and medical assistance to residents in need.

“I went for the adventure and came back a different person,” he said. “It was very eye-opening for me.”

Photos courtesy City of New Brunswick; (L-R) Dentists Howard Novak, Robert Gordon and Jay Miller in the Village of Pampahuaylla in Peru; Volunteers pose for a photo with the village elder in the village of Casacunca, Peru. NBFD captain Chris Boyler is pictured fourth from left.