Emergency Coronavirus Response

Dear All,

Firstly, as ever, we send our love and thoughts to you and your loved ones as these trying times continue. We hope you are able to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Things in the Sri Lankan tea estates continue to be challenging, with the schools still closed, lockdown still in place and families struggling to make ends meet. The government support supposedly extends Rs 5,000  (USD$40) per month to help, but in reality the racism and corruption of the local officials who hold the decision making power means that the Tamils of the tea estates are not seeing this financial support. 

So, your support remains critical to creating as much of a safety net as we are able to provide.

In the last month we have extended this support to some members of our junior staff team who live in households where all the other adults have lost their jobs and their own salaries are being stretched to breaking point. We are adding additional 'bonus' pay to the salaries of 13 of our 41 staff to help them. They are all from tea estate communities. We are proud to say that we have been able to continue to employ and support our staff and their families throughout this poandemic, without them we are nothing.

In a bit of good news, the government has announced that NGO/charity staff are to be prioritised for vaccine rollout and this includes all of our staff members, we are really grateful to the government for this decision.

Thank you again for all of your support, and we do wish you a wonderful summer (or winter for those of us in Australia or New Zealand!)

With best wishes,

Tim

Links:

• Our TLT Facebook Page