Fawzia Mriza at SOS

Fawzia Mirza studied law but she thought she could put up her best arguments through art. Born and raised in the US, Mirza lives in Los Angles and expresses herself through acting, production, writing and working in theatre, television and film. 

She loves to educate people how to express themselves through their bodies, voices individually and through building a connection with others.

She says she uses art to break down stereotypes across a multiplicity of race, religion, sexual orientation and gender and defy the concept of the “model minority” often portrayed in the mainstream. Thank you very much.   

She was in the town and had planned to do a story-telling session how to express oneself with a group of children at SOS Village.

Pakistan-US Alumni Network invited me to attend the session, and I gladly accepted the offer.

Why not. Seeing Fawzia perform is a treat to watch.

I was at SOS village at 10am and soon arrived there Fawzia amid tight security.

Some American consulate officials were with her.

 The children aged 10 to 15 years seemed a bit confused when she took them to playground from a large classroom. The presence of their teachers made them submissive.

 As she started interacting with them, the children shed shyness and submissiveness. They looked joyous, excited and the presence of their teachers and other adults was consigned to oblivion.     

“Clap, turn to the person standing next to you, look into their eyes and shout your name,” she started with the activity. After a round of claps and name shouts, the children looked relaxed and were at home.  

“When an eye-to-eye connection is made, an emotional bond comes into being,” she later explained the activity. Shake-it-out was the second activity, which brought physical expressions out of the children.  All participants standing in a circle would first shake their left arm, then left arm, followed by right foot and finally left foot eight times each.

‘Name and shout’ was another activity, where each participant would first tell their name loudly and then utter a sound to express themselves. 

“Any sound would do,” she told the participants standing in a circle. 

The playground was resonated with roars, whistles, mews, laughter, shrills, and what not. 

“You see, they expressed their individuality in a free atmosphere,” she smiles.  The other activities included making a story by adding a sentence from each participant and throwing an imaginary ball to someone in the circle.  

The main activity, however, was making a human machine.

 Ten volunteers would make some physical actions and utter some machine like sound. The end result was wonderful. 

“What do you they this machine is for?” she asked the remaining children. 

“It looks like a washing machine,” said overexcited Razia. 

“No, they are building a road,” said a boy. 

“Nuclear plant,” said a 10-year-old boy. 

Everybody laughed. American Consulate officials also joined the laughter.