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Her paintings are exhibited around the world, in countries like France, Belgium, Monaco, Spain, and Switzerland. Her mother is the distinguished Syrian poet, Nada Kahal. Her name is May Abu Jeib, and she is a rising star in Syria. She is a woman of dreams, passion, vision, and an ambition that knows no bounds. She dedicates her-self to the wellbeing of society, meanwhile painting the colorful world of her dreams. Like a butterfly—colorful and bright—she draws a smile on people’s faces, and elegantly flutters along, gently placing the pillars of her dream into place, one after the other. She does much and says very little, and with a dedication of purpose she confidently marches along, seeking no reward other than seeing her dreams come true. Born in Lebanon and raised in Paris and later in Syria, Abu Jeib’s involvement in art began at a very early age. As a little child she sent one of her drawing to Princess Stephanie of Monaco, seeking inspiration from a well-established idol. The young Princess noticed the little girl’s obvious talent, and replied with an encouraging letter. Abu Jeib earned a degree in French Literature and a diploma in piano from the Conservatoire d’Auberviliers in Paris. During her studies, however, she continued to paint and held her first exhibition in Damascus at the French Cultural Week in 1995. Abu Jeib taught drawing classes at the Faculty of Architecture at Damascus University, and designed dolls and story-boards for cartoon companies. On several occasions, she accompanied her mother on the piano during her poetic recitals, and together they have worked on numerous fund-raising events and exhibitions for charity programs. Her dreams and talents are capsulated in her latest grand fund-raising project, “The Little Dream Book.” It tells the story of Aya and Omar, two children whose adventures are recounted in a series of short-stories and 33 poems written in five different languages, French, English, Italian, Spanish and Arabic. Abu Jeib collaborated with Lebanese musician Elias Rahbani, who transformed one of the poems into a song, then composed its music and helped both record and produce it. The CD will be distributed with the upcoming book. The “Little Dream Book” aims at promoting readership among young Arab children through interactive and well-crafted stories, while introducing them to a variety of foreign languages. Abu Jeib still dreams of raising her projects to an international level. She aims at transforming the stories into animated films with cartoon characters like the famous ones from Walt Disney, maintaining values, however, that are relevant to Arab children, and to which they can relate. The project aims at supporting children with cancer with an ongoing fundraising program for the Children Cancer Center in Lebanon and the Basma Center in Syria. Shortage of funds, however, has hindered the project’s progress, but nothing seems to stand in the way of Abu Jebi’s determination to succeed. She still works with passion and patience, certain that one day, her project will see the light.