Arun Prashanth has a lot of burden and expectations on his young shoulders. He is from Nammakkal, Tamil Nadu, the only son in a very poor family consisting of his mother and younger sister. Arun’s sister is paralyzed from hip down by birth; his father abandoned them soon after her birth. His mother is doing jobs on daily wages to bring up the children, and to take care of her daughter’s treatment. Misha, from the social work department in St. John’s hospital is quite familiar with them, and helps them by waiving off their medical bills or arranging for funds to pay them. Misha, who is very closely associated with MicroCharity, informed us that the family didn’t even have money to buy food from canteen while at the hospital.
Arun is keen on studying, and wants to pursue Diploma in Civil Engineering from Mahendra Polytechnic College, Namakkal. He got above 80% marks for his 10th standard. He had joined the college last year but had to discontinue as they were not able to pay the college fees. Arun completing his college and getting a job is the only hope for the family.
Arun’s family requested help from MicroCharity for his studies, which would come to Rs.72,500 per year including tuition fees and hostel fees. His mother wants him to stay at the hostel since there are limited facilities for studying at home, and they would be in the hospital most of the time for his sister’s treatment.