Roberto “Romie” Mal-ang, a 14-year-old boy from Cagayan de Oro City in southern Philippines, was only 25 pounds when he arrived in the United States in February to undergo surgery to correct his multiple congenital defects that severely stunted his growth, worsened by years of abuse when he became a houseboy at age 5 after his father sold him to a neighbor.

Two months since the Connecticut-based Children’s Chance, Inc. and the Manila-based Philippine Airlines Foundation flew him in, Mal-ang has gained 10 pounds and is thriving with a Woodbury, Connecticut family that is hosting him.

With a series of medical tests nearly completed, the Yale Children’s Hospital is set to schedule Mal-ang’s corrective surgery for summer or fall.

Among the boy’s congenital anomalies are that he has patent urachus (his urine comes out of his umbilicus or navel), ambiguous genitalia which makes it unclear if he is male or female, and only one kidney.

“Romie has XY chromosomes which means that although he still has ambugious genitalia, he is a boy,” says Dorita Urrata, director of Children’s Chance, the same humanitarian group that brought to New York former conjoined twins Carl and Clarence Aguirre, and their mother Arlene.

Urrata said several specialists at Yale Children’s Hospital, including Dr. Robert Weiss, a renowned chief of urology; and Thomas Carpenter, chief of endocrinology, are running the tests and are keeping a close eye on him. The hospital also administered Mal-ang’s vaccinations.

Shortly after his arrival, the boy suffered dehydration and acute renal failure, but quickly bounced back.

“Romie is doing beautifully,” Urrata told the Filipino Reporter. “He will have surgeries but not until he is better able to survive them. In the meantime, he is learning the joys of being a well-loved child in a home that both loves him and treats him like one of their own three sons. He is learning to use the computer and has long mastered the art of Game Boy.”

Luke and Etta Tracy, the Woobury parents of three, who are hosting Mal-ang, told the Reporter that surgeons are inclined to give Mal-ang an Indiana Pouch, a surgically-created urinary diversion used to create a way for the body to store and eliminate urine for patients in the absence of urinary bladders. It also has the advantage of not using an external pouch to store the urine.

“In Indiana Pouch, doctors take the small intestine and the appendix and make a pouch inside Romie’s lower abdomen,” explained Etta Tracy, a registered nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital. “It has a one way valve so there is no leaking and then it gets covered with a band aid. It looks like he may not have a urethra to use to divert the urine since he doesn’t really have a penis.”

“Romie has gonads (reproductive organ) of a boy and his endocrine levels are that of a 6-year old child,” Tracy said. “Doctors said his clock just stopped for some reason...it could have been malnutrition and renal disease. Good nutrition plays a major role in the relationship between the gonads, the adrenals and the pituitary. They think with good nutrition, Romie has growth potential. His skeletal system is that of a 6-year-old. Bone plates are not fused which is a great sign that he has plenty of room to grow.”

In the meantime, Mal-ang is enjoying a whole new world with his new family.

“He used to eat only rice, but we encourage him to try other foods on the table,” Tracy said. “Now he is eating more and more American foods everyday.”

“Our three sons have been awesome with him,” she said. “They taught him how to count to 20, sing the alphabet song and learn to write his name. He now knows how to respond when someone asks his age because he didn’t know how old he was when he first arrived.”

“Romie takes care of all his things,” Etta continued. “He loves his radio that he sleeps with and all his prized possessions are near his bed. He claimed the top of the bunk bed. He values the warmth of a blanket, and the simple things like a toaster. His Papa Luke showed him how the toaster works and he was very impressed. He is fascinated by such things as the can opener, the vacuum, the car wash and most of all the go cart. He was squealing with joy. The boys give him rides in the go cart all the time. He has adjusted to the weather nicely.”

“He says he misses his grandmother but still doesn’t want to go back,” Tracy said. “He doesn’t talk about his mother and really doesn’t miss her. He doesn’t trust adults. You can’t blame him.”

Mal-ang is “an example of everything that can go wrong with the poorest Filipino family,” said Menchu Sarmiento of the PAL Foundation.

His father, who sold him when he was 5 to work for a neighbor, was struck and killed by lightning by the time Mal-ang was 8, Sarmiento said. That neighbor maltreated and physically abused Mal-ang, she said.

“He has deep scars on his legs from being whipped with bamboo and other signs of abuse,” Sarmiento added.

Workers at the child welfare office learned of Mal-ang’s plight and helped him.

Mal-ang was shuttled back and forth between the orphanage or the hospital and his grandmother’s shanty house in a remote mountainside of Cagayan de Oro, with no electricity or running water.

His two sisters — one of them mentally retarded — have been in orphanage since their father died. His mother is now with her third partner, a pedicab driver, and has had two more daughters.

The Tracys said they are doing their best to also help Mal-ang heal from any emotional or psychological trauma from his childhood.

“The youth group in our church is going to give him a big birthday bash sometime in the late summer,” Tracy said. “We are showing him how to cuddle and hug and sing. We would like to take him to New York City in the spring for a show. Just recently, he was a guest of honor at a Filipino-American gathering.”

According to Urrata, more Filipino children are scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks for heart and eye surgery.

Children’s Chance is accepting donations (payable to Children’s Chance) for personal expenses of the children coming here.

Help may be sent to Dorita H. Urrata, Director, Children’s Chance, 45 Proctor Street, Waterbury CT 06706; or call (203) 753-3438 for more information.