Chebaa

Some places have a way of making the world feel a little quieter.

Chebaa, tucked into the southeastern corner of Lebanon near the slopes of Jabal Al Sheikh, is one of those places. Surrounded by mountains and breathtaking landscapes, it's a village where nature seems to set the pace of life.

This print began with a young woman who found Maraseel online and wanted to gift her family something that reminded them of home.

I was especially excited about this one. Chebaa was a little farther from the villages I had illustrated before, and I loved the opportunity to bring another corner of South Lebanon into the Motherland Project.

To get the landscape just right, I connected with Muhammad from the Chebaa municipality, who generously shared photographs and helped me find the right perspective of the mountains.

When he saw the finished artwork, his reaction meant so much to me. He called it beautiful and unlike anything he had seen before. But what stayed with me most was his wish:

«وما تكون الصورة ذكرى بس نعيشها بالحقيقة عنجد»

That this picture wouldn't become just a memory, but something we could continue living in reality.

And then Taharah, another daughter of Chebaa, shared a memory that made me fall in love with the village even more.

She remembered how slowly life moved there, surrounded by nothing but nature. One night, when the electricity went out, she stepped outside and saw what felt like the entire galaxy above her.

She simply stood there, looking at the stars.

I keep thinking about that image. A sky full of stars, mountains standing quietly in the distance, and a place so beautiful that even the darkness gives you something to remember.

Because sometimes, home is not just what we see around us. It's how a place made us feel.