Farmers pick 40-70kg of green tea leaf, and then carry it on their heads for up to 5km to the road ready for collection by the tea factory lorries. Daily collections are made from remote farms up to 50km away. The leaf must reach the factory within 6 hours of plucking, or it will start to deteriorate. Any delay caused by heavy rains and flooding can lead to a downgrading of leaf quality or weight, with a consequent loss of income. On this income few can afford to send their children to school or pay for medicines.
Farms have neither electricity nor running water.
There is a local water project, but it lacks finance, so water is collected from a local stream which is often contaminated. Disease is common, but even if families can afford to pay for treatment, the nearest doctor can be as far away as London is from Birmingham - a journey that often has to be made on foot. It is not a life that many growers would wish on their children, but although education is theoretically free, in practice the state cannot afford to pay teachers or provide proper school buildings, tables and chairs or books. Parents are forced to build and finance schools themselves - and many simply cannot afford it. Very few children go on to secondary or higher education, and with no opportunity to train for other employment, their dependency on tea is reinforced.