Cleft palate surgery started today! And wow what a day. Three surgeons worked all day on just seven cases, but I can't wait to see seven new sets of smiles in the morning!

We spent yesterday screening all the patients who had turned up for registration and assessing suitability for surgery. Unfortunately most of the worst cases were just too complicated for the limited follow up facilities of the train and had to be referred on to Lucknow, but hopefully this will still mean they can have treatment in the future. The first little baby had bilateral complete cleft lip and palate and all the associated problems of feeding, breathing and malnutrition, still looking like a 3 month old at nearly a year, and requiring an operation that would have been freely and easily avaiable in the UK at just a few months old. We were also extremely priviledged to meet a young lad of just fourteen who following severe electrical burns as a child had suffered huge disfigurement of both the left side of his face and right arm including being blind in one eye. I think we were all quite stunned by how brave he was and hopefully thanks to the train he'll now be able to start on a series of operations to restore as much function as possible.

The last few days have also been exciting after nearly 400 people have had successful cataract surgery and can see again! And I got to be scrub nurse for the surgeons! Although learning the Hindi names for the syringes, scissors, four sets of scalpels and equipment was no easy task, especially with the rapid surgery lasting between just eight and twenty minutes, so no time to ask questions!

But it's not all work! We had a day off on Monday and went on a trip to Varanasi to visit the ghats along the banks of the river Ganges. Sitting on someone's luggage for the 2+ hour bumpy ride was interesting but made all the more worth it for our wonderful afternoon spent with a pot of plunger coffee, massive brownies and ice-cream surrounded by silk in a Varanasi cafe buying far too many beautiful things!