Scheherazoom! An Invitation.
From the suffragettes to the Spice Girls, girl power has manifested in womxn* throughout modern history. In each woman, there is a story of girl power. From every victory standing up for yourself in the face of a prejudiced coworker or boss, to slut walks and womxn's marches through the streets of patriarchal societies cloaked in a mask of equality.
What we Women Really, (really) Want… varies. (As Mel Gibson discovered, before we discovered we really, really dislike Mel Gibson.)
Aligning the variations however, are our stories: our collective stories of our experiences as a woman. They differ, they relate, they emote, they challenge, and they're ours.
"Scheherazade Initiatives" name heralds from the original storyteller of our times.
"Scheherazade told stories to save lives.
Her own, and fellow sisters, not blood related, but bound through unspoken harmony.
Each story healed a wicked king, and residually herself, benefitting from its ability to transform wickedness into kindness.
She was the cure and the cause of the king's altered perception of womxn.
She was our first modern paragon of a woman proving the use of words instead of weapons, is far superior.
Using voice instead of violence.
Past and present trauma, healing through story."
This is an excerpt from one of my poems, "Tango of Trauma." A little self-promotion there, which I am not apologizing for: as Miranda Hobbs once said, "I want to enjoy my success, not apologize for it." For myself specifically though, I'll add a "pending," before "success." Self-promotion deviation aside, I hope this excerpt provides a little background on the woman that inspired the charity this article is promoting.
Like our heroine, Scheherazade Initiatives founder, Caroline Watson, also wove stories throughout the Silk Route. Hua Dan, (herself a fictitious heroine of China), was the charity's first project in China in the early noughties**. The project worked with 32,000 of the country's rural-to-urban migrants, who worked in the manufacturing and service industries at the heart of China's economic boom - credited for your "Made in China," labels.
Caroline transferred the Hua Dan project model to currently work with MENA (Middle East & North Africa) refugees resettling in Europe. A model that uses participatory theatre and artistic practices to empower displaced populations to overcome the trauma of enforced migration, and both benefit from, and contribute to, their host communities.
A particular, though not exclusive, focus on working with womxn, and a valuable resource to help improve the necessary language skills (to be comfortable with procedures like making a doctor's appointment or navigating public transport), Scheherazade Initiatives felt continuing our workshops we had already established in the UK, and implementing new ones, was essential to provide a sense of stability, comradeship, and love in these uncertain times.
The Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the isolation of displaced populations, not to mention the ensuing economic impact likely to leave them even more vulnerable. For many refugees, self-isolation can be a stark reminder of the fear, uncertainty, and instability that defined much of their lives prior to fleeing war and persecution.
Thus, "ScheheraZoom!" is taking shape, and you may be able to sense my enthusiasm for the seamless transition from "zade" to "zoom!" Whilst mentioning the "zade," I find it timely to mention that I, myself, also take great influence from our original storyteller, as she is the inspiration for my namesake, Sarah Zad.
I have used the latter part of my name as my stage name for the past decade, to invite the Lady Luck of being another iteration of her legend. I sing the praises of my paternal homeland, Syria, whilst remaining faithful to my maternal side's apple pies of New England. I enjoy telling my own stories, and fostering other storytellers as well. As a workshop facilitator for Scheherazade Initiatives, I count myself unbelievably fortunate that I get to do this.
There is no shortage of injustice in our world, and transforming trauma into growth is easier said than done. Yet I've witnessed that through using forms of theatre (including dance, music, poetry), as a tool to explore global issues, mental health and more, we start to heal.
INVITATION:
"Sisters for Scheherazade," is the ScheheraZoom! workshop I am inviting you, the reader, to join. "Sisters," welcomes both refugee and non-refugees alike in order to learn from one another and facilitate further integration and friendship.
This Spring, through Zoom, we gained sisters from Europe, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, and women from Scheherazade's Initiatives origin, China. This Summer, we hope to reach even further corners of the globe, until we're worthy of a Pitbull chorus!***
Each workshop incorporates a theme, to complement our ultimate goal, which is to have you experience how our methodology of using creativity to build resilience can be applied to your own life.
You'll be paired with a "sister" for the duration of the workshop, for partner, group, and individual activities. By the end of each workshop, we hope to have achieved a renewed sense of empowerment collectively as womxn, which applied to ourselves then ricochets positive change within our communities.
No prior performance experience is needed. Our workshops nurture creativity you may or may not know you have, and whilst we encourage trying new things, we would never force you out of your creative comfort zone.
Our first Summer workshop was Saturday, June 13, and "racism" was the workshop's theme. To illustrate the importance of civic engagement, we each penned a sentence to our local government officials in support of #BlackLivesMatter. For each sentence we added a corresponding movement, resulting in a symbolic dance to "Change," by British grime veteran, JME.
The song chronicles change in the UK music industry, but the chorus is relevant through a "fear of the unknown," which we hope is lessened by increased education and tolerance in our communities. Our letter template was then ready to send individually, only needing to insert the name and email or address of our local government officials (country-permitting)!
I'm partial to late 90s and early noughties artists, made apparent if you take part in one of my workshops. Past themes have been accentuated through Xtina's "Genie In a Bottle," as we granted each other's wishes for the future of humanity, or provided metaphorical "remedy" to the "poison" in our lives and our world, with encouragement from the Prodigy's "Poison."
To register for our Sisters workshop (we are currently offering 2 to accommodate different timezones), please go to this link. You do not have to have taken part in past workshops to join our current Summer programme, whether as a one-off or for the rest of the Summer:
scheherazadeinitiatives.charitycheckout.co.uk/cf/sistersforscheherazade
To learn more about Scheherazade Initiatives work, please go to this link (also at the top of this article), where you'll also find links to our other programmes, including a weekly Masterclass hosted by a different guest practitioner each week, and a children's Summer Camp:
scheherazadeinitiatives.charitycheckout.co.uk
Whether or not you register to take part, also visit the above link if you would like to make a donation. Your donations and/or registrations help us to facilitate even more programmes for womxn across the globe!
And with that, "Say You'll Be There," - bookending this article with another Spice Girls' classic!
I hope to see you this Summer!
Lots of love,
Sarah Zad
* replacing the “e” with “x” is to be inclusive of those who associate themselves as trans and/or nonbinary
** a British term used to describe the era of 2000 - 2009
*** Brazil, Morocco, London to Ibiza, straight to LA, New York, Vegas to Africa - Dance the Night Away!…
Follow Sarah Zad and Scheherazade on instagram!
Sarah is a singer, writer and producer who works full time with Scheherezade Initiatives. She is wildly talented, incredibly caring and a very close friend. Her work is so important to the world and she appreciates all of those who are able to share, support and participate as it all makes a world of a difference! Sarah resides in London, UK and honors her American and Syrian heritage.
