Kavya* and Vani* have attended Back2Back’s partnering center in the slums since they were little girls. Each day they would make their way to the feeding center for a hot meal, tutoring, and community with other children. As they grew up in proximity to the center, their friendship was cemented over homework in the same subjects and a desire to choose something more.
From a young age, Kavya wanted to pursue higher education. As a young girl, then a teen, she watched her parents work tirelessly selling nuts and seeds for profit, and she knew innately she didn’t want the same for herself. When she voiced her desire for more education to her parents, her father balked at the idea. Raised within a very traditional family, Kavya’s father and paternal grandmother believed her lessons needed to be on cooking and cleaning in order to find a good marriage match. Back2Back staff knew Kavya’s desires and helped advocate on her behalf.
“It took a lot of hard conversations and persistent follow-up before Kavya’s father allowed her to pursue Junior College,” shared Back2Back staff. Their consistency in advocating for Kavya paid off, and her father agreed to allow her to complete junior college.
As she thrived in school, studying hard and achieving the highest marks in her class, her father began to see Kavya’s potential in the same way Back2Back staff did. He realized she could make a difference, could forge a new path, and the pride he felt over his daughter’s accomplishments grew.
Today, Kavya and Vani both attend university and tutor at the center where they met and grew up as girls. Their community believes in strict roles for men and women to fulfill, but these two best friends have a hand in altering those expectations.
“As they grow and progress in school, naming their goals and actively achieving them, they are becoming role models in their community for other girls,” shared Julie Mowery, Back2Back India Stateside Director. “They are changing the trajectory for their neighbors and the other young adults they interact with every day.”
Kavya and Vani didn’t simply do their best and move on; they’ve planted their feet in their community. They’re giving back at the same center where they were taught to dream bigger for themselves; they are investing in their childhood neighborhood, and also reaching for a life bigger than what they’ve previously known.
Together, they are demonstrating to younger generations what it takes to plant steps in a new direction, and they are giving back in the same community and center where their dreams were first nourished. Please join Back2Back as we celebrate alongside Kavya and Vani as they continue in university, leading by example for all to see that where we come from has no determination on where we choose to go. Theirs is a hope that does not stand still.
