First, donate to Eric's legal defense.
Preparing for the appeals process has been incredibly costly. The financial
demands have exhausted the resources of Eric's friends and family. As a
result, the FREE ERIC V. team has asked for donations from those who have
heard about the case and share the same passion for justice and for Eric's
freedom. Please give what you can by going to
http://www.friendsofericvolz.com/donate.htm
Second, for those not able to make a monetary donation, we urge you to write
a support letter to Eric. These support letters have become a life force
for him during this journey.
Eric said of those who have reached out to him, "A friend asked in a letter,
'Where are you pulling your strength from?' The answer is — all of you are
my strength. The prayers, the campaigns, the letters, the movement — without
you I would be lost."
If you are unable to give a donation, please take the time to write Eric by
linking here: http://www.friendsofericvolz.com/write.htm
As we move into each day approaching the appeal — TEAM FREE ERIC V. will not
be stopped!
~~~~~~
For those interested in the latest letter from Eric, please continue
reading. These are his words below:
Tuesday
4/17/07
Today is my day to go out in to the yard. It's called "el patio sol" here.
The yard is a dirt square a little bigger than a basketball court. They give
me two hours alone so I usually jog the perimeter for an hour and stretch
and do pull-ups on the fence for the other hour. (I calculated this morning
that since my arrest in Nov. 2006, I've been outside for more than 15
minutes only 12 times, with the maximum being 3 hours. Needless to say, I
ain't got no suntan going on!)
Today is special though cause I got permission to go to the "iron pile"
(gym) and work out for an hour. After the yard, this will be a nice
variation to my normal, weightless, workout in the gallery. Anyways, I have
about 25 minutes to write this letter so here goes...
I would like to start by sharing a couple of excerpts from letters I have
received in the last month:
"ERIC, your suffering is producing good fruit in my life. God is using your
story to sober me, to wake me, to call me to action, to shake me up. He is
taking a blade to the roots of sin in my life; sloth, greed, and
complacency. He just keeps whispering your name to me."
(A letter from a stranger)
"Hang in there brother. The boys of H BLOCK got your back."
(Prisoner sentenced to life in a jail in the U.S.)
"Your story will change lives: your story already has changed lives. It is
just the beginning and there is a world waiting to hear it." (Young woman
from California)
"I read about what happened to you and for some reason it has really
affected me."
(Letter from Portugal)
"Right now your life is the heartbeat for about a million others!"
(Letter from Mexico)
"I have never protested anything publicly and I have no interest in trying
for political office to improve society. But since I've been reading blogs,
sending mails, and seeing people respond to your situation, I've felt this
wonderful sense of POSSIBILITY. People are actually getting involved and it
has rejuvenated my hope democracy."
(Computer consultant, U.S.A)
"You are teaching a lot of people many different things while going through
this, however hard it may be."
(Unknown)
"We are fighting for you!"
(9 year old)
I, like thousands of others, would like you to know that I am praying for
you and your family. You are obviously a very special child of the universe;
otherwise, the adversary would not have worked so hard against you, it must
be hard to believe that now, but it is true."
(Support letter through the website)
"I just learned about you on You Tube. This video has really captured me and
I'm going to write my Congressman and a friend who works at the State Dept."
(University of CA, San Diego alumni)
These are just a few excerpts from a small batch of letters. The letters
touch on people's emotions, social views, how they found out, their outrage,
ways they have been reflecting on themselves, etc. (there have been some
pretty insane hate mails as well, but I will have to get into that some
other time.).
So that people can visualize: I read the letters in my cell. They are
printed on paper and are brought to me about once every 2-3 weeks. I do
receive them all. I have to be somewhat secretive with the letters so the
others prisoners don't get jealous so I stash them under my mattress. I
encourage people to keep writing even if it is just a couple lines, I get to
see who is writing and subsequently, it allows me to grasp the size of the
awareness network.
Most important regarding the support I want to say the following: a man can
live weeks without food, days without water, but can't go minutes without
HOPE.
The letters of support reporting the many ways in which people are fighting
for me, give me tremendous hope. It shows me extent of the fellowship that
is sharing in my suffering and this takes much of the burden off my
shoulders. It makes the time I'm doing less painful and frees my spirit. I
have no idea why I have been appointed to be the lightning rod for all of
this, but you can imagine how it makes me feel to read from in these walls
that "my suffering is producing good fruit" in people's lives around the
world. It overwhelms me with deep strength and peace.
At times the is despair so overwhelming there are no words, there is pain so
deep it does not have a name, and the fear is so powerful we cannot paint
his face. Yet, as a result of those who love and support me I see beauty
above it all.
I am holding firm, for I know that I'm not meant to stay here and a great
adventure lies ahead. I'm writing. I have documented as much as possible. I
have filled many journals and look forward to the day when I can share the
details.
What a story it is! A story of injustice, of danger, of near death
experience, of courage, of moral strength, of hate, corruption, romance,
guns, politics, media, of death, of collective energy, of spiritual
pilgrimage, of love, of faith, and of the creator filling the hearts of
ordinary people with the energy, wisdom, and might to do extraordinary
things that without his help would be completely out of our mortal grasp.
Perhaps most intense for me is that its not over yet…
In closing I would like to ask that people send positive thoughts and
prayers to DORIS, her family, my family, the defense team in Nicaragua,
safety in prison, and lastly the gate keeper who will be overseeing my
appeal.
ERIC V.
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