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A crèche assistant supervises children of tea pluckers at the tea estate crèche...Sri Lanka is a world leader in tea export, and its tea is considered among the best in the world. British colonists transported thousands of Tamil people from South India under brutal conditions for indentured labour on the plantations. Presently, strong unions and greater awareness of rights has somewhat improved the conditions of tea estate workers who live and work on tea estates. Women form the majority of the workforce and are 'trapped' at the lower end of the labour hierarchy. Female tea-pluckers have to juggle labour with sole-responsibility for family and household-care, normally working 14 hours a day...Picture Michael Hughes/Maverick