Dear All,

As we are wrapping up the project (effective November 27th 2006) we would like to thank you for participating in this project to raise money for the Red Cross Lebanon Relief Fund.
We are happy to say that the total amount raised was a modest but helpful 850$.
Thank you to every person involved in the project from the web design to map dying, from spreading the word to purchasing a map.

For any further questions or comments please contact us at mapsforlebanon[at]yahoo[dot]com

The Map for Lebanon Project Team.

In answer to some questions we have received over the last week, or since the inception of the project, we have the following to say:

This project is HUMANITARIAN in nature.

The tangible goal we seek to reach is to raise funds to aid in the medical assistance, feeding and sheltering of people which the International Committee of the Red Cross is overseeing, REGARDLESS of their position in the conflict.

The tragedy stemming from the loss of life and the hundred of thousands of displaced is affecting the whole region, Israelis, Lebanese and Palestinians (in alphabetical order).

It is absolutely LUDICROUS and RIDUCULOUS to even think that one life is worth more than another.

The International Committee of the Red Cross works in association with the national offices of the Red Cross, national offices of the Red Crescent, and the national offices of Magen David Adom in the respective countries they operate in.

Due to logistic reasons and an increased need in the aid operations in Lebanon, the Lebanese Red Cross and the Lebanese Red Crescent asked for the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Although offered, Magen David Adom in Israel and the Red Crescent in Palestine have declined the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

We understand the extent of a possible backlash to this statement.

This conflict is just another event in a chain reaction that has left a whole region living in fear of their neighbor! True terror is living in fear of continual potential threat from any entity toward any entity. This project does not promote terror or fear.

We, the team members of this project, stand up for the weak and the humanitarian aspect of this conflict. If you do not agree that unbiased help is needed and that a new perspective, a human perspective, has to emerge from this conflict, then so be it.

But we, the team members of this project, believe and act upon our belief in the human cause. The basic needs of shelter, food and security are primordial to humans, long before democracy, religion and financial well being.

We understand that it is utopian to believe we can achieve this by selling a map. But if the map can help, then we are doing what is in our power to aid.

We appeal to you to understand that our cause is an unbiased HUMANITARIAN effort.

I can't tell you how excited I am. I just got a package from USPS with a map in it! I was not expecting it at all, and I must say the map is beauuutiful. It's larger than I thought and I've been "travelling" through it for the past hour, going from one village to another and remembering all the good moments spent there among majestic sites or in front of breathtaking views.





The first picture shows where I spent last summer, Broummana, and where many Lebanese (including my parents) are currently "hiding" away from the bombing (www.theFlowerCity.com, slow). The second picture shows the highest peak, Qornet Es-Saouda meaning "the black corner", at 3,088 meters (approx 9,000 ft). Back in the scouting days, in 1997, Pierre and I had to walk all the way up there from the Bekaa plain (east). Priceless.

It is indeed a great piece of art, beautifully done, and I recommend it to anyone.
Thank you Jeremy, and thanks to all the team for the great work.

-Philippe

The comments section here will be dedicated to all of you who got your maps and would like to comment on the process, to express what it means to you, or just to show us more support. Please refrain from political comments. Thanks.

[Click on "Post a comment" below]

Making these maps is quite an interesting process, I must admit. Jeremy showed us all the ropes today, and let us into his secret tea-dyeing process. He did not reveal his secret ingredient (pssst: it's Lipton tea) but everything else he showed us how to do so we can make even more maps whenever we feel like it (generally that's three in the morning for me but I'm weird). In any case, we completed about eight maps today, that means dyed and dried. There are about nine more still dyeing and that will take a while to dry. Plus, we shipped 8 orders yesterday, which was our first big shipment. As Pierre would say, that was exciting. The two overseas orders (France and Italy) will be shipped first thing Monday, as they are ready as well.

Pierre, Angela, Jeremy, our friend Matt and I were the main Dye and Dry Team today (The DDs for short). Funnily enough, the longest time was taken up when Pierre and Angela went to Kinko's to print more maps, but the printer over there was struck with some technical gremlins, so printing 20 copies of maps before we could dye and dry took about four hours, during which I had to entertain Pierre with my scintillating conversation, and he is very demanding. It also takes a while to get the tea all ready to go, to get it to the right level of darkness so the dyeing process can start. Jeremy, to his credit, has got it down to almost a science, but every map is still unique and has a unique pattern of ageing, just because of the way the process goes. In this way, every map really is its own unique creation, as befits a work of art.

Well, it is now three in the morning, and Jeremy and I shall now head back to his house to put up the last batch of dyed maps for drying before hitting the proverbial hay. This really is an exciting time and we hope more of these maps will find homes soon, and even if I do say so myself, they do look rather cool when everything is done. Pictures of today's work will be on the website for everybody's viewing pleasure. We love you all!

Ahmad

I am happy to say that we have found new ways to lower our costs and send more money to the Red Cross!
Jeremy told me earlier today that he was able to get the prints for 2.50$ each (instead of 4.50$) and that mass tea dying is much cheaper than expected. Also Jeremy has found a way to dye consistently.
The savings will allow us to donate north of 20$ for every map instead of the budgeted 18$.
We are currently working on dye techniques to speed up the process without harming the quality or taint color of the map.
Finally I would like to add that we have reached double digits yesterday with our tenth order.
Please order maps and tell your friends and family to do the same.
For those who have spread the word and bought maps: THANK YOU!
Love you all
Pierre

On behalf of the Map for Lebanon team:

After reading some unfortunate comments that were submitted to our blog, we thought we should clarify our vision for this project and our stance towards the conflict.

First and foremost, please remember that this is a Humanitarian-focused initiative. Unlike others, we do NOT use the suffering of people for political or ideological gains. We are only raising funds to help the victims of the conflict, and our choice of the Red Cross as recipient is specifically based on their non-political stance towards armed conflicts.

This conflict has brought death and suffering to civilians on all sides, and it is indeed regrettable. Currently, the Lebanese Red Cross / Red Crescent is in urgent need of humanitarian aid and has called the International Comittee of the Red Cross for help. The American Red Cross has answered this call by setting up the Lebanon Relief emergency fund.

On another level, we would like to remind you that we welcome any intiative that supports us, in particular any type of advertising linking to our website. However, we are NOT responsible, in any way, for any publicity that does not originate from a member of the Map for Lebanon team.

Also, we can NOT be held responsible for the content of websites, blogs, emails, or flyers that link to us.

Finally, we would like to thank each and every person and organization supporting us, and remind you that you can support this project in many ways, including buying a map, telling your friends, writing in your local newspaper, advertising on your blog, and submitting your comments and suggestions on our website.

Thank you all for your cooperation.

-Philippe

I'm so proud of you all for coming up with this idea and going through with it.

It's now only the third day and already there's enough money raised to give first aid kits enough for 5 people.

Let's keep it up!