Neppolien is as ambitious as his namesake

Neppolien hails from the village of Pakkam in coastal Tamil Nadu. His father, Veeraiyan, is a an unskilled laborer, and his mother, Tamilarasi, like other women in her village stays at home. Neppolien is the oldest of three children- he has a brother and a sister who are studying in grades 9 and 8 respectively at the local village school. His father earns approximately $ 1 per day when he is able to find work, which is insufficient to meet the needs of the family- they survive on such low wages only because the family is able to barter their services for goods.

Neppolien, who was named after the famous French general, is as ambitious as his namesake. He wants to break out of the poverty cycle that his family has been in for generations. He wants to learn a trade, so he can command better wages in the market than his father and uncles are able to do. He enrolled himself at the Padma Vocational Training Centre in Manjukuddi and is learning the Automobile repair trade.

Thank you, Jeffrey, Subhash (x3), John, Arlene, Julian, Stacy (x2) and Felix (x3) for bearing the cost of Neppolien’s training course for a month each. Thanks to your generosity, in a few months, he will graduate as a skilled mechanic, and will be able to earn enough to pull himself and his family out of poverty.

Who knows, he might even achieve his dreams of sending his younger siblings to college? With your support, an ambitious lad like Neppolien can achieve anything he sets out to do. Thank you!