Peacemaking & Palestinian refugees: Part two.
life update, trip update, & presentation site
Hey friends,
It was a heck of a week over here. Last week I had pre-scheduled all the posts that went out on Wandering Home, but meanwhile we were struggling at home with serious health issues with our dog. We just celebrated her 12th birthday, but 12 has been off to a rough start.
I typed half of this from the living room floor, where she was bound for a few days recovering from an ER visit and vestibular disease that is debilitating to her mobility and balance and causes some worrisome (but hopefully temporary) neurological issues. If you don’t know, Prudence is a large breed, and any large dog who can’t walk/eat/go outside unassisted is …a lot. This disease should go away on its own, and she’s improving each day and looking like she’ll make a full recovery. But it was touch and go there for a few days over here.
And bizarrely, life went on. Hours, days passed. Work continued. A new season of the year and maybe life is impending.
The other big thing in my world, as you know, is I’m going to Lebanon and Jordan soon. Here’s a short Middle East trip update I posted on social media recently, in case you missed it:
Connect & Palestinian Refugees.
In more recent news, thanks to all who attended “Connect & Palestinian Refugees” virtual event yesterday afternoon. I hope it was an informative session for you to learn more about the Middle East and more context for the work I’ll be doing there this June. Thank for asking good questions and offering encouragement to me for my trip! It was so good to be with you on Sunday.
The event was recorded and I’ve already shared it with those in attendance or who wanted to attend live and couldn’t. If you’d like to see the replay and promise to watch it, I can email it to you. Just leave a comment below or reply to this email.
Here is an adaptation of the presentation I shared in “Connect & Palestinian Refugees”. Click through and visit the page, read my story, and see the images and graphics. Feel free to share if my story, images, or the presentation resonates, and please consider how you’d like to support my trip and Palestinian refugees if you haven’t already.
Trip & Support Update.
I’m still raising funds to be able to support my trip to Lebanon and Jordan in just five weeks. We leave June 4 for Beirut, so it’s coming quickly! I met my first milestone, and before May 1, which is very encouraging and exciting.
I’ve raised about $3,000! ($3,000 was the bare minimum to equip me to go. $4,000 would be even better and allow me to focus more on creative production. $5,000 would be fully funded. And fully funded means I can be wholly devoted to the creative aspects of the trip rather than financial, and I’d be thrilled thrilled thrilled.)
I’ve gotten many cash donations and made book sales (a few large ones - you know who you are. Thank you.) I’ve made several Etsy artwork sales, been gifted useful gear and supplies, and had many other offers of support through tangible and intangible ways that allow this journey to be a success. Thank you for the ways you’ve played a part.
A few highlights of how people are pouring resources beyond money into my trip, which I didn’t know to ask for but did, in fact, need:
Shout out and many thanks to Maddison, who has wholly supported and been a partner in my work with Palestinians for many years now! I have the fortune to borrow her much higher quality camera and set of lenses than I personally own and was going to have to rent for my 3-week trip. This was a huge investment in my work, Palestinian refugees, and a giant gift!
And to Kari for donating AND offering me and the Beirut and Beyond team her communal grief and rage workshop! Mental health and communal processing is very important for this kind of work. Thank you.
And to Sarah for giving me a soft place to land in Czech Republic for a few days on my way home from Jordan! I normally travel alone somewhere after working in the Middle East, and I can’t think of better post-trip company than Sarah!
And to my Mom for buying me new sandals for my troubled feet. So much more than new shoes.
This list of support goes on…
…and I’m just so grateful.
Really, this is so much better in community than alone. We have so much more to offer that way. And this is the world I want to live in. Though I haven’t met my fundraising goal yet, I already feel so fully supported by my community and people showing up for me in various ways. You make this work possible. Thank you.
If you haven’t donated yet, would you please consider what support could look like?
The $3,000 I have in now covers flights, my accommodations in Beirut and Amman, and travel insurance. I need $2,000 more to fully fund my volunteer trip that will cost about $5,000.
The remaining expenses I have are tech/camera things I need to add to my borrowed camera kit to be able to work successfully for long days in the field, local transportation in-country, meals and provisions, travel documents/visas, and other incidentals.
If you’ve traveled internationally lately, you know travel is not cheap these days. To add to that, traveling and working in a country like Lebanon experiencing economic collapse (meaning inflation is outrageous and your dollars don’t hold value, so you don’t know how much things cost or how much cash you actually have) means expenses can be less predictable. We try to be frugal where it makes sense to maximize our resources and ensure a positive impact wherever we are, and everything I do points toward being able to create create create when I’m there.
Thanks for empowering me to do just that.
I work pro bono and donate my time, skills, experience, and creative energy to this mission, so your help financially and relationally is incredibly important to make sure the trip is funded and I can deliver the work I’ve promised. This is an easy way to be a bridge and practice peacemaking in the Middle East.
Here's how you can support my work:
All donations after processing or art production fees will go toward my travel expenses. Thanks for supporting me and Palestinian refugees.
Donate through a cash app:
There are no fees if you send to me as “Friends and family”, and these cash donations come straight to me and can be put to use immediately! Any amount helps.
Donate $50+ through a cash app and I’ll send you 4x6" prints of a few photos from my Middle East travels as a thank you!
Buy my photography (only through May 12!):
Shop ShelbyMathisStudios on Etsy and make a purchase to support my trip. My shop is open only through May 12, so only a couple more weeks because I need time to fulfill orders before I leave! In my shop you’ll find photos I’ve taken on my travels across the Middle East in Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, and creative photography work from my Crushing Walls table-top miniature series.
Buy my book ($500+):
A creative mashup of my photography and poetry, this small book will take you on a journey with me through the Middle East. It includes four original poems and dozens of full-page color photographs (some never before released images and writing!) on 50 color pages in a 6x6 inch quality soft cover book.
Thank you for considering making this large investment in the future of Palestinian refugees and my work in the camps this summer. This is a very limited run that I’ll print and ship in mid-May, so contact me ASAP directly if you want one!
Stay connected:
This is new! I started a secret Facebook group to share more detailed trip updated and on-trip photos (things I won’t be sharing her in my newsletter or publicly on social media), so if you want to be a part of that to keep up with my trip, comment below or reply to this email to let me know - I’ll add you!
Subscribe to Wandering Home so you don’t miss any updates here:
