Jessica McNamee, a popular Australian actress is to visit Vietnam for first-hand experience of The Fred Hollows Foundation’s blindness prevention programme in developing countries.

After this visit, Jessica McNamee will become an ambassador of the Foundations’ work.

During the three-day visit from November 9-11, Jessica will bring a 77-year-old lady who has cataracts in both eyes to Dai Loc Hospital where the lady will receive free cataract surgery under the Foundation’s programme.

With what she has gained about the Fred Hollows Foundation’s work in Vietnam, Jessica McNamee hopes she will be able to have a better understanding of the blindness prevention programme in Vietnam, which will be strongly accelerated with the potential commencement of the Australian Blindness Initiative in 2010.

Jessica McNamee is an Australian actress who is best known for her role as Sammy Rafter in the television series "Packed to the Rafters". Jessica’s recent contribution to the work of the Fred Hollows Foundation was the entertainment reality show “Dancing With The Stars”.

Jessica will also visit HoiAn shortly to enjoy the spectacular scenery in the ancient city.

The Fred Hollows Foundation has since grown into the largest eye health non-government organization in Vietnam. For more than 15 years of operation in the country, the Foundation has helped train nearly 400 doctors from across Vietnam in performing modern sight-restoring cataract surgery, expanded the program to all parts of the country and increased the number of annual cataract surgeries to 12,000.