Debra Winger helps Sight Savers workers treat Kenyan children

Here, the star of An Officer and a Gentleman, Shadowlands and Terms of Endearment, tells BBC News Online it was not a 'celebrity' trip - but a chance to see people being helped to rebuild their lives.

Sight Savers International offers treatment such as cataract operations, to those whose sight can be saved, and educates healthcare workers about potential conditions which could cause blindness - such as vitamin A deficiency in childhood.

The charity estimates there are 45m blind people in the world - and that in 80% of these cases, blindness is totally avoidable.

Debra says it was not her celebrity that was important to the people she met in Kenya- but the fact that she had travelled thousands of miles to learn about their lives.

"One day I was driving down a street, and children were running up to the car.

"They were so excited because someone was coming, someone who wanted to see their lives and was interested in them.

"Often, celebrities involved in charity work think 'I'm visiting - that's the big thing'.

"But it wasn't about having someone famous going out there. Where I was going, my name meant nothing."

'Incredibly difficult'

When she was 17, Debra was involved in a car accident, and went blind.

There is a stigma attached to not being able to see Debra Winger

Her sight was restored within a year - but she says she had to prepare herself for the possibility she might never have seen again.

Sight Savers approached Debra after hearing of her experiences.

She said: "I had been approached by other charities, but usually it was just because they wanted to use my name to highlight something.

She says: "It became clear that this was a very different situation, where I could actually be involved as much as I wanted to be."

"I didn't really talk about my experiences while I was in Kenya.

"But I think it helped that I understood the despair somebody can feel when they lose their sight."

She said: "I saw huge problems. People don't get diagnosed with sight problems, and that is often because there is a stigma attached to not being able to see.

"They are a nomadic people, and having that kind of impairment can make their lives incredibly difficult."

Education

Sight Savers aims to reduce that stigma and help people whose sight cannot be restored to continue learning or working.

Debra adds: "Workers from the charity are living in Kenya and working with the villagers to pass on their knowledge.