A Job that provides you with a house?
Housing conditions continued to be one of the biggest challenge faced by the management of the tea estate. Once the tea estate provides a house for the family, it is theirs to own forever - an asset passed on from one generation to another, from parents to children.
Line houses are usually compartmentalised into 10 individual houses, and each has two rooms and one single kitchen. On average, a family of five lives in one line house, sometimes up to 10 people. In a family of five as in this picture, three children sleeps on the bed, parents sleep on the floor on thin mattresses could be the norm.
The tin roofs could not withstand the Sri Lankan monsoon for long. Floods and leakage are common, which often calls for NGOs’ help to fix them. Can you imagine to sleep on a wet and narrow floor, where people would also walk around during your sleep when they are awake on a cold and rainy day?
The problem of privacy especially for girls and women who do not have their own rooms and problems like the use of space and poor ventilation are also common. Although Hongkongers like us face the same problem of limited living place, the environment is not as dilapidated: lack of electricity, hot water, shared bathroom, and among many others…
​
People usually shower outside in an enclosed area of the house with boiled hot water; it usually takes an hour or two to finish the boiling process, even after long day of had-work and school. Latrines are usually shared among a few families, and flush latrines are usually unavailable. Often, families need to walk 100-150 metres to reach the nearest toilet available to them. So when you are in a rush to go to bathroom, you literally have to run and hoping that no one occupies it.
Tea estates most commonly provide line houses for their workers and families. Interestingly, only around 20% of the population living in the tea estate are actually working for the tea estate. The rest of the non-working population account for retired workers and family members of the workers, who also enjoy the benefits provided for workers and some work outside in the cities in varies different jobs. Seldom are there jobs that provide for workers and their family’s welfare, especially given the poor economic conditions nowadays, such welfare contribute heavily to the high cost of production. Is this then a sustainable business model to the tea estates? How to strike a balance between quality of life of the workers and business sustainability?
​
Government policy now allows for loans provided to families to build or extend their houses. The tea estate would provide a piece of land, and the family would have to pay for around half of the construction fee, while the loan could cover the other half. Indeed, living conditions are much better as could be seen from this photo, this family of 8 have two bedrooms, a living room plus a kitchen. But is this policy really an improvement? There had been occurrences that families took out the loans and used the money for other purposes. And not a lot of families could afford to pay off the debt.
To protect the workers, various tea certifications are created to guarantee a better quality of life for workers in the tea estates. Learn the promises behind the labels and logos on your tea, show your care to the ones who contributed to the fine tea. When you look at the pack of tea, it is never going to be the same again; it is more than a product, but the people who work hard to support their family and make you the finest beverage.
You can help make a change! Donate Now!
Want More Stories Like this?
Related Stories
Women of Tea Plantations
A Job that Provides you with a House?