Yallavva

Meet Yallavva. She lives in India, in the Bijapur district of the southern state of Karnataka, tahsil (county) Basavana-Bagevadi, in the community of Devalapur. She speaks Kannada, a Dravidian language, and I assume she also speaks Hindi, an Indo-European language. Hindu represents her families religion.

Born in 1995, she does not celebrate her exact date of birth, as is custom in her culture.


Her father Mariyappa (born 1960). I have never seen photos of her mother Durugavva (born 1965) or her brother Parashuram (born 2000). Both parents work as laborers. You can see their home behind them--crafted from stone with a corrugated metal roof.

Though she's healthy, Yallavva currently does not attend school due to economic conditions caused by poor rainfall in the last year. Her family receives water from a borehole operated by an electric pump year-round.

She's wearing her best dress and her nicest bracelets, necklace, earrings, and nose ring. Her hair looks neatly combed and tied back. She wears no shoes, as is customary.

I support Yallavva and her community through Plan.