"Don't you Dare Stop Drinking Tea!"
9AM. 25th March 2014.2 Tuk Tuks arrive to whisk 4 women off to Kelaneiya & Braemar estate. Four pairs of wide eyes peer out at the bright lush green hills surrounding them, nervously anticipating the task ahead.
With the huge support and donations behind us, we threw ourselves into the task, Amy in particular setting off like a machine!!! A line of tea pickers in their gorgeous colourful saris quickly formed at the side of the field, giggling and commenting at our feeble attempts. It wasn't long before they joined us in the narrow rows of tea bushes, showing us the ropes and unsurprisingly putting us to shame in their speed and skill.
One 'auntie' stayed with us throughout, and we were gobsmacked when we all put our tea leaves on the scales at the end to see that she had not only helped us all day but had also picked double what we had! We were pleased to discover that she would take home our wages for the day.When we arrived home we compared our blistered ears, throbbing foreheads, aching backs and scratched and bruised arms and legs. But it wasn't until the next morning when we woke up to realise we didn't have to return to the plantation and aggravate these ailments further, that our admiration and respect for the women who return day in, day out, deepened.
The plantation we worked on serves the poorest in the community and gives workers fair wages and living conditions, a rarity in the area. Our work at TLV has been focused right at the grassroots level but it was only our frank discussion with the owner, a long standing supporter of, and contributor to Tea Leaf Vision that opened our eyes to the rather complicated and hierarchical ladder that rises high above the tea estates. Sadly, the amazing tea pickers who had helped us all morning are right at the bottom of this system.During the discussion, some of our previously held assumptions were challenged, like the integrity of Fair Trade. We were saddened to hear that often the premium that consumers pay for Fair Trade products doesn't necessarily reach all the way down the ladder. We feel a bit lost for answers as to how to ethically buy tea and other products, but what is clear is that the worst thing we could do is stop drinking our cuppas. So get brewing ladies and gents and spare a thought for the hands that picked it.