The best thing you can get out of ACS, maybe apart from the education itself, is the ORBIS scholarship. ORBIS is a “non-profit, global development organization whose mission is to eliminate avoidable blindness in developing countries” (orbis.org), focusing on capacity building and the training of local doctors.

What distinguishes ORBIS from other charities devoted to eye care is their systematic approach focused on the training of local doctors, leading to sustainable improvements; however, the most evident distinction is the plane equipped to serve as an eye clinic in the more remote parts of the world. ORBIS has a partnership with the ACS foundation and gives three students three students scholarships (usually one from each campus) go on of the ORBIS programmes in far-away parts of the world to save the sight of those who need it.

Obviously, as an ACS intern, you’re not there to save anyone’s sight. You’re there to walk around, watch surgeries and the amazing sync of the whole team, get to meet government officials, and dine with worldwide experts in their fields. But then and there, all you care about is little Ruhana who just went through a more or less routine glaucoma operation. You know that the chance of something having gone wrong without the doctors having realised is minuscule. But you still cannot resist that strange, sudden bond that makes you bite your nails for an hour, watching her lie on the hospital bed, silent and helpless, before waking up crying.

The ACS internship gave us an opportunity we never even dreamt of. All three of us had a great time together and with the rest of the team who really made us feel like our tiny contributions did make a difference. We got a glimpse of the Indian culture, touring the most famous and the most common of places in and near Jaipur.

We got a glimpse of ORBIS, the medical and non-medical aspects and what it feels like to actually be a part of it all. We got a glimpse of the people and the hospitality that seems to know no boundaries. We got a glimpse of true curry, three times a day. But most importantly, we got a glimpse of someone’s first glimpse after years of darkness.

And that’s what made us want to come back.