Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Enthusiastic Samar Jaffar's face lights up as she talks about the forthcoming People to People International (PTPI) Peace Camp which she will be attending next week in Cairo.
Samar is the only candidate representing Bahrain, in fact she is the only person who has qualified from the Gulf nations and is among the 60 young adults who will converge from all around the world for the 10-day camp.
Samar, 18, a Bahraini, is an ex-Indian School student and is currently working as a sales executive at Hilal Computers in Exhibition Avenue, Manama.
After a full day's work at the sales outlet, Samar attends evening classes at the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) in order to pursue a bachelor's degree in banking and finance.
It was due to this determination and single-mindedness that Samar, from Isa Town, fulfilled the stringent requirements of the selection process and emerged as the favoured candidate amongst the 15 applicants from Bahrain.
"My sister, Sahar, who is the vice-president of the Bahraini chapter of Aiesec, an international youth organisation, found out about PTPI's peace camp through her friend in America and encouraged me to apply for it.
"I had not heard about PTPI before but the more I learned about it the more interested I became.
"Although my family knew I was applying, they did not think much of it as I did not appear too excited in front of them, maybe to avoid being too disappointed as I never thought I would be chosen to represent my country," she said, overwhelmed at the selection outcome.
The 10-day peace camp will feature a variety of activities from classroom instruction on topics including leadership training, conflict management, communication building to visiting the Egyptian archaeological sights and attending lectures on Egyptology, religious diversity, community service and education.
The peace camp will also focus on cultural awareness in daily sessions in order to foster a deeper understanding of the participating countries. The peace camp this year will have delegates from US, UK, France, China, Japan, Brazil, Korea, Columbia, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, Australia, Greece to name a few.
"I want to know what students my age think and how their opinions are shaped and the camp is a great opportunity to meet so many young people from all corners of the world," Samar said.
It will be Samar's maiden trip to Egypt and an exciting one for her as she will be travelling alone for the first time.
When typical young girls her age are busy distressing about the frivolities in life, Samar is already investing her salary in stocks and real estate, which she does under the guidance of her father, Jaffar. But according to Samar, her role model is her elder sister, Sahar, and her pillar of support, her mother, Fariba.
For Samar, 2007 has been the best year of her life so far. "First I graduated from my school with good grades, later I got an opportunity to work in a leading sales company and along with that made a decision to pursue higher studies. Now the PTPI peace camp has become a reality for me.
"I can't wait to see myself after the camp to see what I have achieved with this challenging and interesting opportunity."
With the sky as her limit, Samar is definitely going to reach for the stars.
