After 13 years running Tea Leaf education centres in Sri Lankan tea estates communities, we know just how essential education is in empowering young people from these communities to expand their career prospects, realise their potential and help lift their families out of extreme poverty. Our Tea Leaf Centres which provide free professional development and vocational training for young people (18 - 26 yrs old) are life changing for them and their families.
Until 2022 we had three centres, overall enrolling 280 students per year. Meanwhile word has spread and the demand for our Tea Leaf centres is increasing dramatically. In the last year we have opened two new Tea Leaf centres to try to keep up with demand. Unfortunately 5 centres and 380 places per year is still not enough. Our waitlist is long and we are having to turn away young people. Their families see Tea Leaf as a lifeline and are literally begging us to enrol their children.
We want to be able to offer more places to students and supply them with all the resources they need to study. We're talking about the study essentials; desk armchairs, grammar books, pocket dictionaries, handouts, stationery etc. We also want to source and outfit new Tea Leaf Centres. The ongoing economic situation in Sri Lanka continues to make life in the tea estates challenging for a population already living in extreme poverty. Education for young people has never been more important.
By donating to this campaign you will help us continue to provide the study essentials for our ever-growing number of students. You will also be helping us renovate spaces to create new Tea Leaf Centres, so we don't have to keep turning away young people and their families. Every student that graduates from Tea Leaf ends up on a pathway to gain meaningful, full-time employment, double their household income, help lift their family out of financial hardship and become leaders in their community.