International Week to feature new ‘alternative’
Feb. 29, 2008

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Each year the College sponsors International Week to pay homage to the wealth of traditions embodied in the students and faculty who hail from countries outside the U.S. This year’s weeklong series of events, scheduled for March 3-7, will offer a new opportunity to learn about different cultures and help people in need both here and abroad.

It’s called the Alternative Gift Market, and it’s scheduled for Thursday, March 6, from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Assembly Room. At the market, attendees will discover how they can contribute life-impacting gifts without making a major impact on their wallets. For example, the price of a Barbie doll could enable a family in Kenya to learn solar cooking methods.

“We’ll have anywhere from 12 to 15 booths set up that will be educational and interactive,” said the event’s organizer, senior LeeAnn Brooks. “You won’t be able to visit the market and come out without knowledge of global needs.”

LeeAnn became interested in the Alternative Gift Market this past summer while performing an internship in Kansas.

“At the end of it, we hosted a market for the Wichita community,” she said, “and they challenged us to bring the market back home with us.”

She’s been working on putting the event together since November and has convinced a wide swath of the campus community to become involved, including international students, Greek life, the executive council of the SGA and others.

LeeAnn said that in addition to helping those in need, the Alternative Gift Market also is environmentally friendly.

LeeAnn Brooks

“The alternative gifts that you can learn about at the market not only sustain people, but they sustain the environment too, which is a large part of what this is about.”

The March 6 Alternative Gift Market is one of more than 200 markets held around the world that are coordinated by Alternative Gifts International. To date, AGI has raised more than $20 million to empower the world’s poorest citizens and to preserve the planet.

In addition to the market, other International Week events include the Japanese Tea Ceremony on Tuesday, March 4. That morning at 11:15, Tomoko Aoyagi, who leads a group dedicated to the preservation of the ancient rite, will perform the ceremony. The Cultural Enrichment event takes place in the Bailey Room.

On Wednesday, March 5, a soccer/football match will take place on the Residential Quad. Special guests will include children from Twin Cedars Youth Services.

Things start cooking on Thursday, March 6, during International Food Day in the Dining Hall. During lunch that day, the College community will have the opportunity to indulge in a variety of gastronomical delights, each delicacy carefully prepared by outside caterers specializing in international cuisine.

The week’s events conclude on Friday, March 7, with a music night festival in the Pit, where there will be a dancing and a DJ.

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