
This is a particularly busy weekend. There are around 200 villagers in attendance whereas the average is usually around 120-150 per camp. From that, the ophthalmologists usually identify 20 candidates for the cataract surgery. Today, 24 people are eligible.
Due to the ophthalmologists schedule this weekend, the eye camp is combined with the surgeries. The staff and technicians finish the camp around 3 pm and the doctors begin the operations at 4 pm, finishing around 10 pm in the night. Dinner is ready for them as they finish. Then they are driven back to Varanasi, where they reach their homes around midnight. This service was their Saturday.
Before the villagers leave, each is given a photo of Mataji and a packet of biscuits. What I love about India is that no one ever leaves a program without a material exchange reflecting the giving of one heart to another. It is a gift to be a part of this beautiful process.