While many students headed south in search of sun this past spring break, Steve Sclar ’11 decided to spend his weeks helping others. In order to better understand his perspective, I spoke with him about his experiences.

A marketing and environmental policy double major from Maryland, Sclar set up a workshop in his basement to hand make 120 drawstring sack-packs out of hemp for his nonprofit organization, SAKYA.
He said he plans on giving the proceeds made from these sack-packs to the girls at the Tibetan orphanage that he taught at last summer.

Each sack-pack takes 30 to 40 minutes to make. He worked from 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. each day during the break, with breaks for meals and family time, in order to meet his deadline. After the bags were made, he sent them to Peace Frogs, an apparel company based in Gloucester Va., to screenprint the SAKYA logo onto the bags.

Sclar focused his attention toward the Tibetan orphanage.

“They are the most inspiring little buddies, and the effort I’m putting into SAKYA is a simple labor of love,” he said.

During the summer of his sophomore year, Sclar traveled alone to Golok, Tibet. He said he chose Tibet because he perceived his personality to fit with the country, and he had a curiosity to confirm it. He admitted that he had always been drawn to mountains and snow and had an interest in Buddhism.

“Like most people in the Western world, I had this picture of Tibet in my mind of peace and enlightenment, fresh air, snow capped mountains, yaks, monks and prayer flags,” he said. “I knew this couldn’t be the whole picture, or the truest picture, and I wanted to see for myself.”

Sclar said it was also a matter of being in the right place during the right time in his life.

“I was looking for an opportunity to teach and be taught,” he said.

Through a friend’s non profit organization, Sclar found the e-mail address of a Tibetan man with an upstart orphanage, and asked him if he could help him. The reply was a short message that said, “Fly into this airport, and I’ll pick you up and take you to the home.” Sclar met the challenge, flew to Tibet, and began his venture in one of the most controversial and remote regions in the world.

“It was a thrill and a half,” Sclar said. “Outside of the U.S., I’d only been to Canada when I was little. But I just went and trusted it would be OK.”

His journey was much more than OK. Sclar said that he came back with a passion to continue supporting the Tibetan orphans he had met.

During his time in Tibet, Sclar immersed himself in the culture by eating, praying and living with the orphans and the director of the home. He became close with the director, and is still in contact with him.

To prepare himself for the trip, Sclar read everything he could about the region. He also familiarized himself with the language and the culture, teaching himself how to read and write. Because he knew he was going to spend the summer teaching, he brainstormed ways to teach the orphans by going to Michael’s and finding materials that were light enough to carry over to Tibet.

The orphanage Sclar lived in housed 55 Tibetan girls ranging in age from three to 14. He stayed with them for nine weeks forming close relationships.

“Outside of class, I was ahwo–brother” Sclar said.

He added that he made some very powerful memories.

“Some of my favorite memories were helping the girls feel better,” he said. “I was the official band-aid applicator. It was funny, because the girls used up 95 percent of my band-aid supply in the first few weeks. So, for the last few weeks, I had to be the band-aid judge and jury. Only the real bleeders got one. I was also the official eyedropper. At an elevation of 13,500 feet the dry air caused many dry eyes. Before bed, they would shuffle into my room for their nightly eye drops.”

He also realized some of the harsh realities of living in Tibet.

“When I was there, money was very tight,” he said. “We could hardly afford yak meat. Breakfast was white rice slurry and both lunch and dinner were cabbage and potato soup. The girls do well enough on this diet, but I’m sure they could use some more protein and vegetables. I, on the other hand, couldn’t do it — I lost 17 lbs.”

Through this eye-opening experience, Sclar said he was inspired to create SAKYA, a non profit project that sells his handmade hemp bags. SAKYA, which in Tibetan means “pale earth” is also the first part of the Supreme Buddha’s name Saykamuni in Buddhism.

With environmental and sustainability issues in mind, Sclar decided to make his sack-packs out of hemp instead of the more common and customary nylon used for most sack-packs.

“The thing about sack-packs is they’re all made out of nylon, which is in many ways a miracle invention of the 20th century, but it’s also a petroleum product that biodegrades very, very slowly,” Sclar said. “William and Mary gives away these nylon sack-packs to incoming freshman so they’re especially prevalent on campus. But they’re lousy. We’re all about budget cuts here—probably the tradition of giving away these bags could be trashed because that’s where the bags end up soon enough.”

As an environmental policy major and self-proclaimed industrial hemp advocate, Sclar has taken a stance to support the growth of hemp in the U.S. Currently, the country allows hemp to be imported but does not legalize the growth of the crop.

Although Sclar encourages students to buy his environmentally friendly sack-packs, he constantly brings the attention back to the orphanage it will be supporting.

“To me, the reason why I’m buying a SAKYA sack is because they’re 100 percent helping sustain a girl’s smile and schooling, a girl who would otherwise be struggling as a yak herder without a very bright future,” he said.

According to Sclar, It takes $600 to cover the costs of food, health, clothing and school expenses of one girl. The money from SAKYA will help support several girls. Sclar plans on returning to Tibet in the near future, and he hopes to pursue medicine after graduation.

“Medicine is the most humane, compassionate skill a person can possess,” he said. “Sack-making is a nice skill, but this world needs a lot more than sacks. I’m leaving the door open for SAKYA to grow into something bigger if enough people push me and help me.”

Students wishing to buy a SAKYA sack can email Sclar at stevesclar@gmail.com or sakyasack@gmail.com. He also has an online shop on Etsy.com and a Facebook fan page.

What is it that defines the College of William and Mary? Is it the verdant forests, the ancient bricks or the azure skies? Perhaps it’s the legends created by those giants of American history who came before us. I assert that the College cannot be defined by any of these. The thing that truly makes our campus and our students unique is the array of totally bizarre things that we take in stride. Not quite sure what I mean? I’ve outlined a few of the idiosyncrasies that we’ve all long since stopped noticing, but which make the College experience uniquely surreal.

Shit where it doesn’t belong: You’ve all seen it. You’re on your way to the Earl Gregg Swem Library and — hey, there’s a truck in the middle of new campus. Sure, that’s fine. Can this be explained by deliveries to Mews? Maybe, but that isn’t the point. No one ever stops to question why this mammoth vehicle is parked between the benches and the sundial in front of Swem. We simply look up from our iPods, remark on the presence of the Peterbilt directly in our path, and go back to listening to our “walking across campus” playlists. Also, remember the giant hot air balloon in the Sunken Garden last year? No? Exactly. It happened. I’m going to conduct a social experiment: I’m just going to start placing weirder and weirder things in front of Swem to see if anyone takes notice. Look for my giant coffee mug next week.

Random littering of fruit: Maybe you’ve walked by the Commons or Yates Field and noticed it: the veritable graveyards of produce scattered across our campus. In any other context, stepping over splattered apples, splintered oranges and shattered grapefruits to get to class would be cause for alarm. Not here, though. Nope: here, such a sight is perfectly normal. What could be the rationale for not finding this strange? “Oh, I’m sure there was just a fruit war here.” The real explanation is that a huge number of people just take fruit from the Commons and massacre it by smashing it on the ground. This practice is completely bizarre, yet completely commonplace to denizens of the College.

Impossibly unnerving sounds: It’s 3 a.m. and you’re walking back to your dorm from Swem. It’s dark and you’re already creeped out, when suddenly you hear a hellish screech that sounds like a banshee mixed with a condor being slammed in a door. You whirl around, terrified, gasping. Is it a ghost? Is it a plane crash? No, it’s only the giant generator outside Swem doing its normal scare-the-hell-out-of-you routine. Perhaps an engineer can explain to me why it sounds like the devil himself, but until then I remain skeptical. Additionally, there is perhaps nothing more unsettling than being woken up by the sound of cannon fire. Yet if you live in Sorority Court or any of the Old Campus dorms, that is the nightmare you are sometimes lucky enough to get to experience, courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg. In any other place in America, this would be considered strange or given a second thought. Here at the College, it’s just another oddity that adds to the overall charm of the place.

So next time you come across any of these bizarre occurrences on our beloved campus, call them out. Celebrate them in all of their nonsensical beauty. Because later when you are reflecting fondly on your time here 30 years from now, you won’t be recalling your countless business lectures or tedious advisor meetings. You won’t remember the all nighters or the delicious dinners at the Caf. You’ll remember all the little things that made your time here unique, and maybe sometimes a little surreal. If you get one thing out of this article, let it be the fact that — Oh hey, what’s that truck doing there?

__Jason Rogers is a Confusion Corner columnist. While walking to class, he tries to avoid slipping on banana peels and bumping into large trucks. He is not always successful.__

At the Students of the Caribbean Association’s cultural weekend, attendees will find free ice cream, friendly competition and a delicious restaurant-catered meal. Starting tonight, SOCA is hosting a weekend of activities to raise money for Caribbean charities while celebrating the cultural traditions of the area.
“SOCA has been extremely successful in providing opportunities for our community to come, enjoy great entertainment, but leave having learned something interesting about the many cultures represented throughout the Caribbean — balancing entertainment and education,” Center of Student Diversity Director Vernon Hurte said.

Working with AMP’s Homebrew Committee, SOCA will start the weekend with a unique musical performance by the Mosaic Steel Orchestra. The performers — all local high school students — have taken their act to other Virginia colleges, including James Madison University. But the most creative aspect of Mosaic Steel Orchestra is its use of steel pans.

“It’s a traditional instrument from Trinidad and Tobago,” SOCA President Janelle Ramus-Jones ’10 said. “If you’ve ever seen an oil drum, it’s kind of like that. You hollow it out, and it’s kind of like an instrument.”

SOCA hopes the audience will not only have a good time, but also learn something new. The next performance, a student-written play, is similar in its goals and will take place Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Sadler Center’s Commonwealth Auditorium.

“The play is about a freshman at William and Mary from St. Vincent who struggles with getting acclimated,” SOCA vice president Shanelle Brin ’10 said. “She falls in love with a sophomore from New Jersey and inadvertently invites him home for Christmas break. The play showcases some aspects of the culture of Caribbean people.”

The play is a typical part of SOCA’s cultural weekend, and the actors work hard to make it an entertaining and amusing portrayal of Caribbean culture. If humor is not enough of an incentive to attend the show, a catered meal will also draw in attendants.

The show, along with the dinner, catered by Jamaican restaurant MP Island Cafe in Norfolk, VA, costs only $5.

To wrap up the weekend, SOCA will host its first Caribbean Olympics. Organizations and students will compete in volleyball, blind kickball, chair races, steal the coconut and other games. The Caribbean Olympics is being co-sponsored by the Residence Hall Association, and SOCA hopes it will be a permanent addition to their culture weekend.

“Our goal is to sign up with groups of four or more large organizational teams,” Ramus-Jones said.
Proceeds from the $1 entrance fee will go to a school in Haiti that SOCA has consistently supported with money and supplies. The group hopes to raise enough money to expand its philanthropy to hands-on service.

“SOCA hopes to primarily increase membership so that we will be able to make will be able to solidify our plans for a Haiti service trip.”

After the recent earthquake in Haiti, the region’s need for support has only increased.

“The school we support wasn’t affected by the earthquake, but we knew as SOCA, organizations on campus would come to us for information,” Ramus-Jones said. “We offered help to any other organization that wanted to do something in Haiti.”

Beyond philanthropy and education, SOCA serves as a network and meeting ground for both people of Caribbean descent and those who are interested in the area’s culture. It has also reached out to other cultural groups, such as the Hispanic Cultural Organization, and groups at other universities.

“SOCA would like to strengthen the African Caribbean Network that was created last year by Tamara Jacques,” said Brin. “This network includes all of the universities in the surrounding states who come together to discuss dilemmas facing Caribbean communities and how they can be resolved.”

Besides helping other cultural groups on campus, the Center of Student Diversity assists SOCA by facilitating collaboration, providing leadership training and attending activities to show their support.

“We are privileged to have a rich and broadly diverse campus community,” Hurte said. “Organizations like SOCA — through their programming and service activities — reflect the vast array of experiences, perspectives and cultural backgrounds of our diverse community.”

Not everyone in SOCA is of Caribbean descent, and the only requirement is an interest in or curiosity for the area.

“College is a time to grow beyond yourself, and organizations like SOCA seek to provide opportunities for people across campus to explore new cultures and perspectives,” Hurte said. “They have also helped give us a broader understanding of the Caribbean, taking us far beyond the limiting perspective that some of us have that the Caribbean is only made up of a handful of islands.”

One of the more popular artistic concepts these days is the importance of nonverbal communication. Taking this to its logical conclusion, the members of Orchesis Dance Company attempt to demonstrate the innate expressiveness of movement in their student-choreographed “An Evening of Dance,” but only with sporadic success.

“An Evening of Dance” is divided into 10 pieces, each ostensibly with its own unique mood and design. The most effective pieces have at least a snapshot of a clear narrative structure, allowing for the routine to take on greater purpose. Early in the first act, dancers perform to Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons,” a song detailing the troubles of a working man. Against a fiery backdrop, suspender-wearing performers act out the woes of the music — a not-too-subtle hint at the theme of the piece, but one can appreciate the consistency. Choreographed by Jessica Lowe ’10, “Bodies/Boundaries/Being” elevates the material and illuminates the plight of an entire class of people, artfully and stylishly.

Other pieces in the first act are technically engaging, but none have quite as clear a narrative as “Bodies.” This is not necessarily a bad thing. Most of the first half contains so much concentrated energy that even in the absence of a clear setting, as in a piece by Elizabeth Foss ’10, the show does not suffer. It may even be erroneous to equate the presence of a theme with quality, but the lack of a definitive leitmotif is noticeable. Despite this, the opening half is a pleasure to watch.

The second act, however, consists of largely unmemorable pieces, performed with a jarring lack of focus. Moves that were fresh when performed at the start of the production begin to appear repeatedly, to the point where the layman might wonder just how many backward rolls a dance troupe can perform. The vitality present during the first half of the recital drops off, as if the group lost its momentum. While there are some redeeming moments, it is only midway through the act that the show returns to the inventive choreography present in the opening numbers.

Two pieces in particular stand out from the last half. A comedic and clever piece by Lindsey Carroll ’11 brings life and energy back into the proceedings, with the dancers taking the place of waterfowl in “Duck Pond.” The performers showcase remarkable comic timing, and make the banality of Act II worth sitting through. As proof that Orchesis strongly abides by the maxim “save the best for last,” a piece by Hannah Goldberg ’10 puts much of the night’s entertainment to shame. With a piano cover of Radiohead’s “No Surprises,” all dancers emerge in color-coordinated groups in a show of pure technical skill — themes and narrative structure be damned. The number returns the production to the high point it reached in Act I and doesn’t bother looking back, as the flurry of motion and flashes of color present an outstanding tableau to finish the performance. Though it is not enough to erase the flaws of the production, Goldberg’s attention to detail prevents the recital from sinking into utter hopelessness and makes the time watching this erratically entertaining showcase well spent.

While the show in its entirety has weak moments, “An Evening of Dance” is worth attending, if only for the fact that a performance of its kind only happens once per semester. Hopefully, future Orchesis productions as a whole will have more going for them than exclusivity. If Goldberg, Carroll and Lowe’s pieces are any indication, the possibility is there. What’s missing is inspiration.

The show will be held tonight and tomorrow night in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for general admission.