Ophthalmic nurse, Michelle Carmody's working day in the operating theatre of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital in the Philippines
'We leave our hotel base at about 7.30 a.m. and travel to the airport where the aircraft mechanics will have already opened up the flying eye hospital - a former Continental Airlines DC-10 which now has an operating theatre, sub-sterile area, recovery room and conference centre.
We change into our scrubs and set up the operating theatre while waiting for the arrival of patients and local trainee nurses. Meanwhile, the volunteer surgeon will give a lecture to the trainee doctors in the conference centre.
When the patients arrive, we prepare them for surgery. Because training is such a central focus of Orbis, we only operate on four or five patients each day. This is one of the biggest differences between working here and back home where the volume of patients is so much greater.
While we are working, we are explaining everything we do to the trainees and sometimes also to media representatives and other visitors to the plane.
The most common type of surgery carried out is cataract extraction as this is the leading cause of blindness in the developing world. In countries such as the Philippines, cataracts are removed using a small incision technique to the eye without using expensive opthalmic equipment.
Another aspect of our work here is the need for translators to tell us exactly what the patient is saying. It can be difficult as many translators "interpret" what the patient is saying rather than repeat exactly what is being said.
After the surgery is completed, the patient is brought to the recovery room to be monitored before being sent back to the local hospital for an overnight stay. We have to send any medicines they need with them to the hospital. The local hospitals do not give out medicines and our patients wouldn't be able to afford to buy what they need themselves.
At the end of the day, we clean up and set up for the next day. Everybody has to to help with the cleaning as they are no cleaners. Then, we leave the plane and head back to our hotel by bus. Our day finishes between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. And, then sometimes, we have to go to an official evening function.
Your life is not your own when you are on an Orbis programme but it is most rewarding to see so many people getting their sight back who could never afford to have surgery without us. "
• Michelle Carmody is on a career break from her job in the eye unit at the Midwestern Regional Hospital in Limerick, Her trip to the Philippines which ends today, is her last trip with the Orbis sight-saving charity. See also www.ukorbis.org and www.v2020.org
(Michelle Carmody was interviewed by Sylvia Thompson)