In 2005 the team concentrated primarily on ophthalmic cases, some 80% were cataract related, the rest were pterygiums and a few squint cases. Those that were deemed too complicated were sent to the Philippine Capital of Manila without cost to the patients.
The team had performed a set of surgeries under rolling blackouts in a small rural hospital in the Negros Occidental coast village of Valliadolid. A few volunteers found themselves becoming human lamp-posts, to ensure that the surgeries would occur regardless of a running generator.
A far cry from the daily necessities that would’ve otherwise been available to any medical professional in the west.