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In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, Nepalese master surgeon Sandut Ruit, right, prepares to perform a simple surgical technique that he pioneered, to remove cataracts at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Ruit, who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps, was working in Myanmar for the first time. He and his team were initially scheduled to perform 1,000 surgeries, but added nearly 300 patients due to the overwhelming response by potential candidates. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, Buddhist monks with eye patches exit a room in a Buddhist shrine following simple operations to remove cataracts in Bago, Myanmar. Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with one of the highest rates of blindness in the region. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks to an 'assembly line' surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( APTOPIX Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, a woman suffering from blindness has tears dripping from her eye as she waits to enter an operation room to follow a simple surgical procedure to remove cataracts at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, Saw Min smiles as her eye patches are removed following a simple operation on Oct. 22 to regain sight in Bago, Myanmar. As the bandages are removed from both of Saw Min's eyes, less than 24 hours after her operation, her face lights up and she breaks into a large grin. When I started going blind, I thought my life was over," she says. She had to stop collecting fire wood to sell at the market. She couldn't see the face of her 7-year-old son unless he was standing a few inches away. When neighbors passed her house, asking if she wanted to come with them to the pagoda, she had to shake her head no. I can't even begin to explain how happy I am now. I'll be able to do anything I want. But most of all, I can't wait to go home. I want to see my family." (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, an anesthetist injects anesthesia ahead of a cataract operation at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Accurate statistics concerning public health are difficult to come by in Myanmar, which only opened up to the outside world two years ago. The World Health Organization puts blindness prevalence rates at under 1 percent, high for the region in Myanmar, but one outside survey showed it peaking at 8.1 percent in some rural areas. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, a patient with an eye patch rests inside a makeshift mosquito-net at a Buddhist monastery following a simple operation to remove a cataract in Bago, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( APTOPIX Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, Buddhist monks with eye patches and bandages rest on the floor of a Buddhist shrine following simple operations to remove cataracts in Bago, Myanmar. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, men and women suffering from blindness hold their diagnosis papers in-hand as they wait to enter an operation theater to follow a simple surgical procedure to remove cataracts, as their relatives, center, wait outside at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. The veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks to an "assembly line" surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions, a technique pioneered by Nepalese master surgeon Sandut Ruit.(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, patients receive assistance after undergoing cataract surgeries at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Accurate statistics concerning public health are difficult to come by in Myanmar, which only opened up to the outside world two years ago. The World Health Organization puts blindness prevalence rates at under 1 percent, high for the region in Myanmar, but one outside survey showed it peaking at 8.1 percent in some rural areas. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, Surgeon Sandut Ruit, inspects an eye of a patient a day after they underwent a simple operation to remove a cataract, in Bago, Myanmar. Ruit, who helped pioneer the technique, oversaw nearly 1,300 operations at two massive eye camps in 10 days earlier this month (October) as dozens of local ophthalmologists looked on. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, Buddhist monks, and men and women suffering from blindness, hold their diagnosis papers in-hand as they sit on hospital beds waiting to follow a simple surgical procedure to remove cataracts at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, Buddhist monks and men and women sit with their eye patches removed a day after undergoing simple operations to remove cataracts, as they wait for an ophthalmologist to check their eye sight in Bago, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, Nepalese master surgeon Sandut Ruit poses at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Ruit estimates sight has been restored to 3-4 million people through his assembly-line approach. Once condemned by the international medical community as unthinkable and reckless, this mass surgery "in the bush" started spreading from Nepal to poor countries worldwide nearly two decades ago. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, an anesthetist inspects the eyes of Saw Min ahead of a cataract operation at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Saw Min waited with hundreds of Myanmar's poorest villagers to be prepped for the simple, free surgery she hopes will restore her sight. "My heart is racing," said the 38-year-old mother of five, who lost all vision in her left eye one year ago and, in the months that followed, all but 20 percent in her right. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, a patient with an eye patch who spent the night on the floor of a Buddhist monastery following a simple operation to remove a cataract, receives help to comb her hair in Bago, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )

In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, a relative fans a patient with an eye patch who lies on the floor of a Buddhist monastery following a simple operation to remove a cataract in Bago, Myanmar. After decades of isolation and brutal military rule, the veil of darkness is starting to lift for Myanmar's blind, thanks to an "assembly line" surgical procedure pioneered by Nepalese doctor Sandut Ruit that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions. New lenses are then carefully slipped in. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe) ( Myanmar Gift of Sight )