Tracing the origins of Sri Lankan tea pickers

Would You Like A Cup of Sri Lankan Tea?

By now, everyboby probably knows that Sri Lanka is world famous (world’s No. 2 exporter) for its tea known as tea of Ceylon and tea production is one of the main sources of foreign exchange for the country.

Tourists do not fail to visit the tea factories and the tea tastings during their road trip around Sri Lanka. We have experienced severel of them and they all are indeed very interesting. A visit to a tea factory in Sri Lanka will certainly complete your Sri Lankan travel adventure.

Sri Lanka has six main tea growing areas: Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula, Kandy, Uda Pussellawa, Uva Province, and Southern Province; each with its own weather patterns and unique geographical features. The consistently warm climate, heavy rainy seasons, and the high humidity lead to almost nonstop tea production all year around.

No matter where they are grown, once the leaves are picked and turned into tea, they can be sold in the country or be brought to the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo to be exported around the globe.

Now, what I said is already well known to everyone, but what most people still don’t know is the story behind this big industry, I mean the lives of the workers: tea pickers. The Sri Lankan tea industry employs over 1 million people, most of whom live in poverty and their lives are getting tougher and tougher day after day.

During your road trip in Sri Lanka, while crossing Nuwara Eliya or any other tea areas, you can see the tea pickers at work. Tourists and travellers often stop by the road just to take some good photos of them and the Sri Lankan tea pickers often ask for money when they are photographed.

There is a terrific fact behind this scenic view.

Men and women work from dawn to sunset in order to collect as many leaves as possible (only the first three leaves). It seems that they harvest around 18 kg per day to earn about 3 euros; the Sri Lankan tea pickers have to work quickly under the hot sun to fill their baskets before their takings are weighed and added up at the end of the day.

Most of the the tea laborers are immigrant Indians brought from South India by British plantation owners in the earlier 1850s to work on their tea estates.

• 

• 

The community of tea pickers is kept quite separate from the rest of the country.

The tourist instead of just stopping by the road to click some good photos, should get down from their tuk tuk and go deep inside the tea plantation paths to see what’s really happening.

If you take a walk among the tea plantations in Sri Lanka you can see their hidden villages. Their houses are small and basic with roofs made of iron sheets weighed down with a few stones.

 Read Also: Adam’s Peak Hike

• 

• 

• 

• 

According to what they said and what we saw, it seems they don’t get enough money from their hard work to eat a full meal. They have no electricity, they have no running water in the houses, and the only toilets are outside for common use.

Their poor life condition is the reason why when they are photographed by tourists they ask for money. They are not getting any help and it seems that the government is not giving any assistance to these people to provide for their development. It should provide at least a better education for their children which could help them to improve their condition.

So it is not only about the picturesque scenery. There is much more beyond that. I highly recommend that you take a walk among the tea plantations in Sri Lanka. Apart from the fact that it is going to be a facinating walk, you can see how the tea pickers are living. Your cup of tea will have a different taste after that. And do it before visiting the tea factories in Sri Lanka.

• 

• 

•