P.A.R.E.N.T. International
International Child Abduction
Parents Advocating for Recovery through Education by Networking Together (P.A.R.E.N.T.) began a grass roots support group for parents that had experienced abduction, by Maureen Dabbagh. Dabbagh's own daughter, Nadia Dabbagh, had been abducted at the age of 3, in 1993.
Dabbagh, founded Dabbagh and Associates in 1997; a supplier of "International Abduction Services;" and wrote the book, "Recovery of "Internationally Abducted Children." Dabbagh is considered an expert in the international abduction Service industry.
Dabbagh's motivation for foundng P.A.R.E.N.T. and Dabbagh and Associates is found in her own personal tragedy. She states that she felt isolated in her greif and frustration. Parents that had lost children did not have a support group or a way to contact each other. Agencies that registered these cases kept their records confidential. Maureen reasoned that if she could contact other parents, perhaps she would not feel so isolated, frustrated and angry. As well, her efforts to find resources that would lead to her daughter seemed to allude her. She believed that other parents may be able to share those invaluable resources.
It was not long before Dabbagh contacted other parents. As her little circle of parents grew by leaps and bounds, she had to find a way to share information on a larger scale. Long distance telephone bills easily reached over $1,000.00 per month. She decided to create a newsletter to keep everyone informed on each parent's case, new resources, information and support. She named the newsletter P.A.R.E.N.T. (Parents Advocating for Recovery through Education by Networking together). By 1997 P.A.R.E.N.T. had grown into an international network consisting of parents, other grass roots organizations dealing with the issues of intrenatonal child abduction, and professionals. The huge growth and outreach was primarily due to the Internet. P.A.R.E.N.T. had gone global.
More than a decade later, P.A.R.E.N.T. continues to be the worlds largest advocasy network of parents, professionals, and advocates involved in international child abduction. Dabbagh & Associates was formed in response to professional service needs. As principle to Dabbagh & Associates, Dabbagh, made much needed professional services available, and developed programs, and resources to meet the challenges of remedying abduction cases. For more information on Dabbagh and Associates, go to: www.DabbaghandAssociates.com
Children Do Come Home
For more than a decade, Maureen Dabbagh has worked to bring children home, and to provide reconciliation between parents caught in intractable conflict. It was not enough to bring children home. Dabbagh stated,
"Unless the parents can come together in some sort of understanding, the child will always be the loser."
Maureen set about to stop the villifying of abducting parents. She began meeting with them. She meet with adults that had been abducted as children and she spoke with children that she had recovered.
"I did not learn to listen until I let go of my own frustration, greif, and pain."
Realizing that parents, whether they were the abducting parent or the left-behind parent--loved their children, Maureen set about to learn how to build bridges between parents, cultures, and families.
"They want to be a part of their children's lives. They want to teach them. They want to share their heritage, culture and extended family."
She also understaood that resolution comes outside of the court room, and in such a manner that all parties become winners.
"I stopped judging. I learned that both parents only wanted what was best."
Ethics, professionalism, and confidentiality in P.A.R.E.N.T. has served to project a worldwide reputation of approachability. It was Maureen Dabbagh's dream to remedy international child abduction. While this global ill continues to haunt families, many, many families have been the benificiary of P.A.R.E.N.T. support and no longer live in the nightmare world of abduction.
They do come home
Contact Information
PARENT International
P. O. Box 134
Capron, VA 23829
Email: Parent01@aol.com
Fax: 203-538-1755