Slavery in the tea plantations of Sri Lanka
By Antonella Palermo in Hatton, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka ranks fourth in the world for the production of 'green gold,' or tea.
But how much exploitation is behind the cultivation of camellia sinensis?
To attempt to answer this question, Vatican News’ Antonella Palermo travelled to Sri Lanka with the Jesuit MAGIS Foundation, which runs educational projects for Dalit families there.
Towards the green heart of the island
The journey from the capital to Hatton, the heart of Ceylon's ‘green gold’ production, is long and arduous. The condition of the internal roads is quite good, although they are rather narrow; speed limits are low, mostly imposed by the numerous animals that wander indifferently, invading the transport lanes, from cows to the many thirsty stray dogs, from chickens to donkeys, from darting monkeys to peacocks.
Along the roadside, vendors sell spices, fish, and tropical fruits: delicious mangoes and watermelons, papayas and pineapples, seeds of all kinds. These are laid out to dry without any protection directly on the scorching road surface: real decorations, laid out on the ground as if they were flower petals.
An exodus abroad
We make a stop with Father Jesuit Gabriel Alfred, at altitude, who offers an excellent breakfast in a basic and humble rectory.
"At night, the cold is intense," he confesses, "there's no heating here, we have few resources. And the temperature difference is noticeable."
He lives alone, next to the church. The parish territory is frequented by about fifty families. He explains that these are people who still do not own land: a couple of centuries ago, they were deported by the British colonizers from southern India to cultivate the fields of Ceylon where the camellia sinensis bushes have thrived.
"Many young people are leaving these areas because of unfavorable working conditions. They usually move to cities where they are employed in restaurants, if they're lucky. Often, especially recently, it's the mothers who migrate to Gulf countries, leaving their families behind.”
This creates wounds," Fr Alfred explains, "real family ruptures that don't always heal."
With the war in the Middle East, he observes, many are now being forced to return.
Collecting tea: no rights, homes, or rest
The journey continues with a stop in Badulla, one of the poorest dioceses in the country. Then we head towards the central highlands, where rain and a humid, cool climate favour the cultivation of very high-quality tea.
Sri Lanka ranks fourth in the world in production, after China, India, and Kenya. The landscape is enchanting, with hills entirely terraced with rows of plantations. You can see the women picking the precious leaves, with wicker backpacks on their shoulders; mostly of Tamil ethnicity, subjected to long working hours with earnings equivalent to less than three dollars per working day. In many cases, they are forced to take out loans, becoming entrapped by loan sharks.
The "untouchables" hope for social redemption
Eighty percent of the people employed in the plantations are Dalits, the "untouchables". They are ashamed to talk about it, say the operators of the Loyola Center, which has been operating in Hatton since 1993 with two programs in favor of these people: one educational for children under 5 years old (Loyola Campus), the other as social support for job placement (Centre for Social Concern).
The director of both projects supported by Magis is the Jesuit Father Alexis Prem Kumar, with astonishing energy and irony, and a personal story that is incredible: Indian, he had worked for the Jesuit Refugee Service with Sri Lankan refugees living in Tamil Nadu.
After moving to the Jesuit Refugee Service in Afghanistan, he was kidnapped by the Taliban in 2014. After eight months, he was released and is currently in Sri Lanka, advocating for the tea workers.
The vulnerability of remote villages
We are welcomed into two the schools with all the rituals of the local culture: flower garlands, candles, the bindi ("red dot") on the forehead: signs of belonging to a community that wants to open up to the stranger, to share.
The teachers instill serenity, create an atmosphere of celebration, and extreme reverence for the guests. They recount their experience with impoverished families, who live in shelters made from tin sheds, without water. Yet Sri Lanka is the island of rice paddies, of lush nature that offers basins of water of rare beauty... These are the socio-economic contradictions that penalize and reward its residents.
Some men, too, can be found at meetings the directors of the MAGIS foundation. Teachers explain that this is a good sign, testifying to a sense of family that is being regained despite the many difficulties caused by poverty; usually, it is the women who take full responsibility for the growth of the children.
Finding men in a school classroom also shows that the work undertaken by these projects does not end in the transmission of knowledge, but includes a comprehensive building of the person, who gradually regains awareness of their own value and overcomes the fear of prejudice.
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