Bring Eli Home: Sara's testimony before the House Foreign Relations subcommittee

I received this e-mail from Sara this morning.  Though I didn't ask for permission to post it here, Sara is happy to have her story shared by whatever means possible.  I'm sure she'd be okay with it. 

Hello and good morning,

I arrived home last evening after my trip to Washington, D.C. where I was invited to share Eli's story before the House Foreign Relations subcommittee. I had the opportunity to meet with a number of key government representatives to do all I could to get them involved with Eli's case and that of countless other children being wrongfully retained in foreign countries.

[Here] is a link to the full hearing - my bit starts around 1:08, but each testimony is a compelling story of the struggles that so-called 'left-behind parents' face.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

With love,

Sara and Eli, too!

For further details regarding Sara and Eli's journey, click on their photo on the sidebar or see the Bring Abdullah Home (AKA Eli) label on the sidebar.

ETA:  Sara e-mailed me this afternoon saying that yes, I have her permission to post the e-mail she sent.  She wants to get the information out about Eli to everyone that she can.  Feel free to link on.

Tales from the Trenches: Bring Abdullah Home

A friend of all of us at the gallery, Sara, is in the fight of her life to have her son returned to her. Her son was born in January 2008 in State College, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a U.S. citizen.

From the "Bring Abdullah Home" flier:

Abdullah Eli is a victim of Parental Child Abduction.

Abdullah Eli has been "deceptively removed from Ohio on March 4, 2010. [The father] deceived [Sara] into providing consent to travel outside of the United States on the written promise that Abdullah would be returned to his home in Ohio on May 4, 2010. Abdullah is known to be unlawfully and wrongfully retained in the home of his paternal grandparents in . . . Turkey."

"Sara is now fighting for emergency custody of Abdullah through Ohio courts, and is filing an application with the U.S. State Department for the return of her son through the Hague Abduction Convention, which is the primary civil law mechanism for parents seeking the return of children from other treaty partner countries. Additionally, Sara is fighting to have overturned the hasty and unlawful custody ruling which granted [the father] full custody of Abdullah on March 19, 2010- only 13 days after [their] arrival in Turkey."

Sara is reaching out to everyone who might be able to help bring Abdullah back home. If you or anyone you know are well-versed in situations such as these, please feel free to contact her at saradwrds at g mail dot com.

I can't imagine.

Someone is working on a website. I've suggested making a button so that I can post it on the sidebar. I will keep you updated whenever I hear anything.

Please feel free to pull the permalink and to post to your page(s). The more that people hear of Sara's story, the more links we can have to people who may be able to help.

I did secure Sara's permission to post the flier information.