By MIKE YOUDS, Daily News Staff Reporter, Feb. 14, 2008.
B.C. (Canada)

Winter-Dawn McNamer will join 35 American and Iraqi students in Amman, Jordan, this summer to discuss strategies on Iraq representing the aspirations of young people from the two countries.

Called the Youth Initiative for Progress in Iraq, the 11-day gathering will culminate in a proposed policy statement to international leaders.

With an international baccalaureate degree in hand, a Kamloops youth is bound for India and Jordan hoping to contribute to world peace.

With a $60,000 scholarship from the B.C. government, McNamer has been attending Li Po Chun United World College (UWC) in Hong Kong for the past two years and is preparing to graduate.

The 18-year-old, a former South Kamloops secondary student, is appealing to fellow Canadians to consider donating funds for the peace initiative. Other UWC students are doing the same.

Sufficient support will enable organizers to select participants on the basis of merit without limitations due to financial ability.

“It’s really important that we get as diverse a group of young people as possible, without regard for their ability to pay,” she said. “We see this as the fairest way to adequately represent the complexity of the conflict and the variety of opinions pertaining to it, and we need to fund-raise to come up with the money to do this.”

The project has a substantial pledge of seed money from an anonymous donor, but the money is only available if matching funds are raised.

McNamer set off with suitcase in hand two years ago, driven by a passion to find a positive role in community action.

As an SKS student, she helped found the school’s Global Awareness Society and took part in a Native sweatlodge community near the ranch where she grew up. Her commitment helped her win the scholarship that took her to Hong Kong.

In addition to the gathering in Jordan, McNamer is organizing another peace initiative in June that will unite Indian and Pakistani youth.

After a couple of years of study and globetrotting, she plans to return to Canada to continue her studies.

“She’s applying to universities right now,” said her father, John. “We’re happy she’s coming back to Canada.”

More information on the Iraq initiative can be found at www.iraqusconference.org

Winter-Dawn can be reached at winterdawnmc[at]yahoo[dot]ca.

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Reprinted courtesy Kamloops Daily News