(MENAFN- NewsIn.Asia) Tea plantation "line rooms" in Sri Lanka
At the special school English Mass, toddlers as young as three and youth in their late teens are seen in their best clothes. One young man carefully adjusts his socks to hide a tear in it. That done, he makes his way confidently to where the choir is practicing the singing of hymns in English.
During the Mass, the young Tamil priest is vociferous in emphasizing the importance of learning the international language, English. His sermon is similar to an impassioned social reform lecture. He is determined to see that the estate children are empowered and go forth to the world to take up socially mobile positions.
Having grown up witnessing the impoverished conditions in the line-rooms, the priest cares little to discuss the fate of Sri Lanka's tea industry which is already facing a shortage of labor.
'Who will pluck tea in the next generations is not my business. All I know is that morning till night I endeavor to see that these children have a better future and will not be held captive in an industry that cares little for them,' he states, showing the small library with English and Tamil books he has created in the church premises.
Each Sunday, after mass and during Sunday school, all children have to read English books compulsorily.
His facial expression and tone is that of a person who has himself faced and risen above many challenges. But he changes the subject from his own life to the lives that he wants to uplift.
The two young nuns in the adjoining small convent, located in the estate take their roles as educators of these children seriously. The children go to a nearby estate school but as the facilities there are not on par with larger town-based schools, the nuns provide the children with extra coaching on subjects such as Science, Maths and English.
'Did you hear how well they did the English readings during mass?,' asks one nun. She has the tone of a parent fishing for compliments on the skills of their offspring. She is interrupted by a young volunteer teacher who breaks the news that two teenagers of the parish had been selected as winners at a district level sports event. The nun beams.
Green Horizons
Meanwhile, elsewhere, in a tea estate in the Galaha area of Kandy district, the owner of a tea estate worries that many of his workers are above fifty years of age and that it is impossible to get any school leaver, men or women, to pluck tea. 'Who will pluck tea after another ten years,' he laments.
His daughter who is now about to take charge of the estate, has plans to 'make drastic changes,' that includes a strategy of merging tea plucking with other factory tasks that require skills such as mathematics, raise the salaries and provide facilities such as footwear.
But he fears that the resultant costs would eat into the tea industry already facing diverse challenges. Nevertheless he hopes that the changes will help make the industry more attractive to the younger generation.
Whether those in the industry wish it or not, change is occurring, though slowly. As to how it will impact the island's economic mainstay is a difficult question to answer.
There are those who have crossed the border of plantation workers to being plantation owners In Matale, the district that is adjacent to Kandy, thirty-five-year -old Rathnaveli owns one acre of tea. She emphasizes the word owns. She had purchased it five years ago at a low price after the large land her ancestors were working on was parceled and sold at concessionary rates to some workers who could afford it.
Members of Rathnaveli's extended family work on the estate, determined to keep labor costs low. Having benefited from grants provided by the Tea Small Holders Authority that encourages small holders to make their plantations profitable, Rathnaveli, who had earlier worked as a teacher in a nearby school, is determined to ensure that an industry which reeked of bondage, becomes a liberator.
(Tea pluckers in Sri Lanka: Photo by Frances Bulathsinghala)
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