This is Rita Gaviola, whose photo was taken by Topher Quinto Burgos in 2016 to represent the poverty and the reality experienced in Lucban City in the Philippines. With the money she earned, she was able to buy a house for her family.
There are many people who dream of becoming professional models and being on the covers of magazines representing major brands around the world. Several individuals have the fantasy of being discovered on the street, without having to go to castings or participate in modeling academies.
This is something that rarely happens, but there are certain exceptions. One of them is Rita Gaviola, a young woman who was discovered on the streets of the Philippines when she was only 13 years old and who is now one of the most famous influencers in the country, according to La Vanguardia.
Instagram @itsritagaviola
However, she had no intention of becoming a model nor did the idea ever cross her mind.
Instagram @itsritagaviola
When she was captured by photographer Topher Quinto Burgos in 2016, she was struggling to help her family get by by asking people on the street for money. Topher took a photo of her and posted it to his social media. Without even thinking about it, it went viral.
Instagram @itsritagaviola
People were amazed by this pre-teen’s beauty, and she was nicknamed «the Badjao girl», referring to her ethnic group. Other users also called her «the Cinderella of Lucban«.
Her fame grew so much that several famous models from the Philippines, such as Angelina Ong, wanted to visit Lucban to meet the girl and help her pursue a professional modeling career, as they saw a bright future ahead of her.
Instagram @itsritagaviola
Models further viralized Rita’s photo, including a number of Miss Universes, and helped her financially so she could free herself from poverty.
Instagram @itsritagaviola
It wasn’t long before Rita created an Instagram profile and started doing photo shoots. Within a couple of days, she had more than 150,000 followers, almost reaching 200,000. This allowed her to have greater contact with her fans from all over the world, who started donating money to her.
With the contracts she has made with brands and TV shows, she and her family can now enjoy her fame. Rita has invested a lot of her money in her education, but she hasn’t forgotten her family either. In fact, she was recently able to buy her parents a new house.