Gabriel celebrates 5th Birthday with new Family

It's been a busy couple weeks for Gabriel Maradiaga. From earlier blog posts, you may remember that, though nearly 5 years old, Gabriel weighed only around 20 pounds and in every way resembled a 1.5 year old. His body and brain were so crippled by malnutrition (it appears he only ate tortillas, if anything) that he could often hardly walk and only spoke a few words. Around three weeks ago, he somehow wandered off from his mom's view and ended up spending the night in the woods, only to be found the next day one village over. After that, finding a substitute family for him became even more urgent.
The following week, the cousin with whom Gabriel lived with his mom, the heads of the ministries of the family and health, the vice-mayor, Fabretto doctor Victor Bustillo and I met to plan out the next steps. We all agreed he simply wasn't safe where he was. One day later, we headed down to El Mamey where he lived to take him back to Cusmapa. Although it was heart-wrenching to take Gabriel from his mother, we knew, given her mental disability and Gabriel's living conditions in that house, that it was the only option. The Ministry of the Family had already found a loving family willing to adopt him.
We arrived in Cusmapa about an hour later, fed Gabriel and then took him to meet his new parents. We also provided clothes, food, soap and other supplies to make sure the new family, itself quite poor, would have what it needed to care for him initially.
In daily visits to the house where Gabriel now lives, I see him improving constantly. He's a little fatter, his swollen belly has diminished, he has more energy and is always talking... or at least making noise. Furthermore, the parents treat him as one of their own children and his new siblings are reading to him.
Last Friday we celebrated his fifth birthday at my house. About 20 of his new relatives came to the party and it was evident that they all considered him family.
As I mentioned, it's been an intense few weeks, but I am hopeful he will continue to improve and develop. Thanks again to all those who have helped, including Tin Roof Foundation, who accompanied us on the trip to El Mamey and helped buy the clothing and other supplies for Gabriel. We will continue to provide food and supplies to the family for Gabriel and support him and his family in whatever way he can. Our work is far from over, but the last couple weeks have given us hope for a better future for Gabriel.

Gabriel eats cake with new mother Antonia and father Santos (left) and is held by new cousin Dariel (right) at party

Looks like the party was just a little too much fun for him.