In the High Country of Sri Lanka is the beautiful, mostly cool and green, district of Nuwera Eliya. This is most likely where your Ceylon Tea comes from, and for over 150 years has been the home to some of the world's best tea brands.
The picking and production of that tea relies heavily upon the Indian Tamil community that many years ago was brought across the ocean to labour on the estates.
The treatment of this group of people, who for many years did not belong either here in their homes, or in their place of birth, has not been something that we can be proud of. Even today some companies treat their labourers pretty much as slaves. But for some, and hopefully and increasing number life is changing.
In recent years they have been granted citizenship and their communities, often collections of run down 100+ year old buildings with no water or sanitation, have been recognised as 'villages' and subject to all the rights and responsibilities of all villages.
In one estate these people are now referred to as 'associates' and they have been given shares in the tea company. They have been received'official' identity cards from the Tea Company which they hang proudly around their necks - for the first time in over 150 years - these are an 'identified people'. As the President of the Community Based Organisation on the estate tells his story his voice rises with passion, he speaks faster and faster and I wonder if he will actually stop for a breath at all. When he finishes his community clap him - and they echo his words, spoken in Tamil, but translated as 'you have identified us!'
Today fresh water comes to their doorstep, and waste is channeled away appropriately. They list for me the results of this intervention:
- I have clean water in my house and we have safe sanitation
- I am able to save money because I am no longer having to pay hospital and medical bills every week for sick children
- In the past the water was a little distance away but it took me about 4 hours a day to collect water because the line was long, and there was often conflict at the collection point: today, because the water is in my home, my children are at school early, I am in the field on time and we are not being docked money because of being late.
- Now I am happy to live here
- I and my family will always live here, this is our home - but I want my children to get good jobs, not plucking green leaf.
Those that have been here for the past years of this work describe the transformation as miraculous, not just in the infrastructure, but in the attitudes and satisfaction of the people. "Its all about the people", says the Manager, "if the people are well and happy they work, not because they have to, but because they want to. Of course there is an economic benefit for the company, but the most important thing is the people are true citizens and they are treated with dignity."