On January 7^th, the Fabretto family suffered a great loss. Max Gadea, a life-long member of the family, passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack. Max was only 44 years old, and had no previous history of cardiac problems, though as someone said at his funeral "a man like Max could only die of the heart, because he lived from the heart".   Any volunteers and visitors to Cusmapa in the last ten years will surely remember Max and his wonderful presence in the Cusmapan community and at the Fabretto center.

Originally from the city of León, Max was raised by Father Fabretto from the time he was seven years old, and ended up settling in San José de Cusmapa. When Father Fabretto passed away in 1990, Max was instrumental in helping to restructure the organization, laying the foundation for the organization as we know it today. His energy and dedication were fundamental to the evolution of the Fabretto family, and in keeping Father Fabretto's dream alive.

Max dedicated his life to Fabretto, holding a variety of positions over the years and working at all of the centers at one time or another. He was Father Fabretto's assistant and personal driver in the 1980's and later worked as coordinator of all of the centers in the northern part of Nicaragua.

Max served not only Fabretto, but his community as well.  He was the mayor of San José de Cusmapa, from 2000 - 2005. He spent much time in the surrounding rural communities and helped to develop the initial concept for Fabretto's eventual expansion into the rural schools. Max's participation in this effort was essential to the program's ultimate success. He was also instrumental in helping us establish our Spain office.  At the time of his passing, he was our Model Schools Operations Manager, handling among other things, all of the logistics of food purchasing and distribution for the eighteen rural schools in this project.

Max had so many friends and admirers that his wake was held on two consecutive nights, one in Cusmapa and a second night in Estelí where his funeral was held at the cathedral, with hundreds in attendance. The choirs from Somoto and Cusmapa were present, offering him a musical farewell, Fabretto style. The procession to the cemetery in Estelí stretched for several blocks, and once inside the gates, several testimonies were given by friends and family, in his honor.

Max will be sorely missed by the entire Fabretto family, and the thousands of lives that he touched before his untimely passing. He was a man who strove to share God's love with everyone that he met, keeping Father Fabretto's memory alive. Max was extremely hard working, and thrived on facing challenges and problems.

At the request of many donors, we have set up the Max Gadea Memorial Fund to honor the life he built on his labors of love and service.  The proceeds of the fund will be used to help defray the costs of his funeral, which Fabretto covered, and to establish a new vegetable garden and plant nursery at the Cusmapa center.  He will be memorialized with a plaque at the site.

Like all young children, 8 year old Jahosca has some definite opinions about school.  She loves being on the school's soccer team, but she is not so crazy about second grade math.  Nevertheless, her teachers report that she is working very hard to get better grades in that subject and is doing well in all others.  Jahosca works just as hard practicing her soccer skills, playing 3 times a week in the afternoons.  She is also  enjoying her twice a week folkloric dance class offered through Fabretto's extracurricular activities program.

Community: Jahosca lives in San Isidro, a rural community located 8 km outside the capital city of Managua.  Many of the families in San Isidro survive with subsistence farming in their backyards, growing small crops of beans or corn to help maintain their basic needs.  While relatively close to the capital city, San Isidro is worlds away in terms of development.  For those who have found work in Managua, travel to and from work can take as much as 2 hours each way of walking and transportation on public buses.

Home & Family Situation: Jahosca's father abandoned her and her family when she was little.  She is being raised by her mother, Socorro, who is 39 years old.  Socorro earns about $30 a month as a housekeeper, which is an extremely low wage even by Nicaraguan standards.  Jahosca has 4 siblings: Francisco (20), Ileana (18), Maria Celeste (13) and Marcos (5).  The little money that Socorro earns is barely enough to feed her large family, though her older chidren do what they can to help.  Their home has walls made of cement bricks and wood, the floor is dirt and the roof is zinc. They have electricity, drinking water and an outdoor latrine.  The house is very old and when it rains, which is almost daily during the rainy season in the fall,  the roof leaks and water comes inside.

A Mother's Point of View:  When interviewed about Jahosca's participation in the Fabretto program, Socorro had the following to say. "My daughter is learning fast at the Fabretto center.  The teachers have helped her a lot.  I am glad that they also give her uniforms and shoes because I couldn't afford to buy these things.  My daughter eats a healthy lunch every day at the center.  Before she was very shy, she didn't like to attend school or make friends, but now she feels motivated to attend every day.  I am grateful for this support, and I hope that Fabretto continues supporting her until she finishes school."