We're back from Texas safe and sound!
It was so great to see Andrea and the camp where she's been at for about 2 years. It was a very nice place that was a college prior to being a prison camp. At the front entrance where there was regular steel 6' fencing and just a traffic bar like you'd see at a railroad track crossing. There was 20' fences with razor wire at the top around the rest of the camp. When we asked her sister about the fences she said it wasn't to keep the inmates in, it was to keep intruders out! She told us stories of women that would have someone meet them to have sex, exchange drugs and just about any other thing you could imagine! The inmates know they can walk out at anytime but they'll get caught, and then the luxury of being in a minimum security prison camp would be gone.
I did notice that this prison camp is really structured to help the inmates progress. Example, in the two years Andrea has been there she has recieved her GED, and will be graduating from the local community college that comes in and teaches on the camp's grounds. She is building a resume, and will go through mock-interviews to prepare for getting a job when she gets out. Those are things she wouldn't have done if she was still on the outside.
It's not all roses however. The inmates are required to follow extremely strict rules. The camp officers conduct regular head counts, to assure that all the inmates are accounted for. It was hard for me to believe that there are almost 1000 women in FPC Bryan. So many different stories, it was an extremely emotional ordeal.
I can't put my feelings into words right now about the whole visit. It was heart-breaking to see so many women in that situation. I would guess the age range of these women would be from 18 to at least 70. To hear the stories about how many of these young girls were sitting in prison taking the rap for their man, who isn't a man at all if he lets a young girl get 10 years just so he doesn't get in trouble. One woman was a secretary for some CEO who was stealing millions from his company, and she was sentenced to 10 years for conspiracy. They said there was no way she didn't know about it or help, she swears she didn't.
There is much more to it all, and that'll come at a later date. For now, I am getting ready to go to work for the first day in almost a week. Yesterday I was home with strep throat, which hit me Sunday in the middle of our visit. Basically the majority of my vacation consisted of Alka-Seltzer, Ibuprofen and sleep. I felt horrible because it was so nice there, and Sum didn't really get to do a whole lot because I was such a pile. All is soon to be better, I am on a killer anti-biotic and feel like a new man already. Yee haw.
It was so great to see Andrea and the camp where she's been at for about 2 years. It was a very nice place that was a college prior to being a prison camp. At the front entrance where there was regular steel 6' fencing and just a traffic bar like you'd see at a railroad track crossing. There was 20' fences with razor wire at the top around the rest of the camp. When we asked her sister about the fences she said it wasn't to keep the inmates in, it was to keep intruders out! She told us stories of women that would have someone meet them to have sex, exchange drugs and just about any other thing you could imagine! The inmates know they can walk out at anytime but they'll get caught, and then the luxury of being in a minimum security prison camp would be gone.
I did notice that this prison camp is really structured to help the inmates progress. Example, in the two years Andrea has been there she has recieved her GED, and will be graduating from the local community college that comes in and teaches on the camp's grounds. She is building a resume, and will go through mock-interviews to prepare for getting a job when she gets out. Those are things she wouldn't have done if she was still on the outside.
It's not all roses however. The inmates are required to follow extremely strict rules. The camp officers conduct regular head counts, to assure that all the inmates are accounted for. It was hard for me to believe that there are almost 1000 women in FPC Bryan. So many different stories, it was an extremely emotional ordeal.
I can't put my feelings into words right now about the whole visit. It was heart-breaking to see so many women in that situation. I would guess the age range of these women would be from 18 to at least 70. To hear the stories about how many of these young girls were sitting in prison taking the rap for their man, who isn't a man at all if he lets a young girl get 10 years just so he doesn't get in trouble. One woman was a secretary for some CEO who was stealing millions from his company, and she was sentenced to 10 years for conspiracy. They said there was no way she didn't know about it or help, she swears she didn't.
There is much more to it all, and that'll come at a later date. For now, I am getting ready to go to work for the first day in almost a week. Yesterday I was home with strep throat, which hit me Sunday in the middle of our visit. Basically the majority of my vacation consisted of Alka-Seltzer, Ibuprofen and sleep. I felt horrible because it was so nice there, and Sum didn't really get to do a whole lot because I was such a pile. All is soon to be better, I am on a killer anti-biotic and feel like a new man already. Yee haw.
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