Kalaivani, lucky to be alive

Female infanticide is illegal worldwide, but to successfully wipe out the practice requires understanding, foresight and in many cases, sympathy.

Six years ago, new mother Yashoda was very frightened.

At 24 years of age, she had delivered her third girl, Kalaivani – and for the third time she would be viewed as ‘bad luck’ to her husband’s family for not producing a boy.

Girl children are still often seen as a curse in Kadayampatty, India, where Yashoda lived.

In a community with limited opportunities for girls, poor families sometimes thought of a baby girl as an overwhelming financial burden, whose need for a dowry in the future could plunge the rest of them into debt or ruin.

Even one girl child is a disappointment. After three, Yashoda believed her husband would bow to family pressure and abandon her, along with her young daughters.

She decided it was best for all of them if the newborn baby died.

Support for Yashoda saves Kalaivani

Yashoda received a visit from local World Vision workers shortly after the birth, to check on her progress and that of her child. They could see the pressure she was under.

Advice, counseling and financial support followed, giving Yashoda and her husband new determination to keep and love their baby girl.

Kalaivani loves reading and learning, as well as making mud houses with her best friend Dina.

“I worked as a labourer before. Feeding and looking after the children was so difficult with work. Sometimes I would leave the children at my mother’s place and work for 15 days straight. But the work, and our eating, was irregular.”

After joining the women’s group, Yashoda and her husband started a small grocery shop. She took out three separate loans to increase the business, all of which she’s been able to pay back into the women’s co-operative to help others like herself.

“Now we have the shop,” explains Yashoda, “I can stay home, look after the children, cook for the children."

"With more income we are able to send our girls to school, and we can think of sending them higher if they want. If they ask for small toys and games, we can buy them.”

Yashoda is also impressed by the increased confidence of the women in her village, who now travel, attend meetings and run small businesses.

“At first, people would worry as to where these women were going. They didn’t allow them to travel. Now it is accepted for the women to travel and join groups.”

And Kalaivani? She’s six now, loves school and playing with her best friend Dina. “I play hop and skip,” says Kalaivani, “and also, we play making mud houses.”

Yashoda and her husband cannot imagine a life without their precious, cheeky Kalaivani. “Her name means Saraswati,” says Yashoda fondly, “ the Hindu Goddess of Learning. I want her to study as much as possible, at least complete Grade 12, and then decide for herself.”