Rayigam Tea and Rubber Plantation

After a very long bus ride through the Sri Lankan countryside, we arrived in the “low mountains” where Sri Lankan black tea is grown. Sri Lanka also grows in the Middle and High Mountains, different types in each elevation.
We first went to the plantation owners home and were served tea and had an opportunity to purchase some direct. Then we went to the factory and saw women picking the tea. It is harvested every two weeks. The trees are kept at chest height so they can easily harvest new leaves. They can only pick the top two or three leaves.
Each woman harvests 2.2 kg a day for a payment of $6. They work every day and are paid monthly, live in terrible conditions on the plantation and keep what is left of the $2,000 annual income after they pay the owner rent and healthcare costs. Our guide told us most of the women are in debt to the plantation owner, meaning it costs them more to live and work there then they make. They looked so sad.Read more