From Jal El Dib to Disney World?

Growing up in Jal El Dib during the civil war, Mayella Zard remembers, “everybody was crying, but I was thinking I was going to become a princess… all my focus was on my costumes and makeup.” Her enterprising parents organized theater shows to occupy and entertain neighborhood children during difficult times, to great success. Even when the war ended, the shows remained a fixture of the local community. When Zard graduated from university with a degree in business auditing and finance, she saw the potential of her childhood pleasures. With just one other staff member, she set out to professionalize the productions and expand their audiences in order to turn a profit. Eleven years later, OM2 has 35 full time staff on its payroll and an international network of freelancers who contribute to the productions, seen by tens of thousands of children in Lebanon and an increasing number across the