The Sri Lankan Tea-workers

When you enjoy your cup of tea, spare a thought for the Tamil tea-pluckers of Sri Lanka who are amongst the poorest working people in the country. They currently receive a daily wage of 410 rupees and, apart from the better plantations (which we haven't seen but Dilmah, amongst other tea companies, would like us to believe exist), live in substandard housing on the plantations which consists of basic houses with one or two small rooms per family and a communal toilet. As these workers are housed by the plantation owners, it's difficult to see what help can be offered, apart from extra money and daily requirements but one project that we have seen which seems to make a difference is a creche/school financed by a Catholic priest on one of the plantations an hour or so from Galle. It consists of a basic one-room building and one teacher but allows the mothers of young children to work, doubling the family's income. Extra funds would secure the creche for the future and provide supplies.

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