Support a Student, Strengthen a Community

“Now I see my daughter is more than a student, she's become a leader in our family. She guides us, supports us and sets an example. I’m really proud of the person she’s becoming”

You are championing young people. 

Yesterday, our Tea Leaf Centres invited students’ parents to school, to share the plans for this term and give parents further confidence in the kindness and support that staff are showing to their children. You are providing these young people with a year of free, high quality education and their parents are so grateful.

“Before studying at Tea Leaf, my son was very shy and lacked any confidence. Now he speaks up more, makes friends easily and helps others. Thanks to these staff, I can see him growing into a happier, more confident child each day.”

You are empowering young people

In April, the World Bank report highlighted the increased vulnerability of Sri Lankan households, with a third of Sri Lankans living in poverty or one shock away from falling back into it. Over six weeks, students were taught how to ideate, plan, deliver and then evidence individual service projects to solve community or family issues of those worse off than themselves; no mean feat when you consider that the vast majority of our students live below the UN extreme poverty line.

Your support has provided more than 50,000 people this year within the tea estate communities with personal, meaningful support and solutions, led by young people from their community. Service projects included: repairing community water systems; providing educational materials to children with disabilities; caring for the elderly; providing stationery and exam papers for government schools; teaching free maths classes and painting community spaces.

One of our Nuwara Eliya students saw many poor children in his village who didn’t have the basic school supplies they needed. It bothered him, and he felt a strong desire to do something,  no matter how small, to help them with their education.

So, for his individual service project, he came up with a clever plan. He decided to organise a small cricket match right there in his village. The event was a big success, and he used the money he collected to buy school books and stationery for the children.

When he handed out the supplies, a wave of emotion washed over him. He felt incredibly happy and proud of what he had accomplished. The project not only made a real difference in the lives of the children, but it also changed how people in his village saw him. They respected him for his actions, and he felt a newfound sense of purpose and belonging in his community.

Your donations help us reach more young people, lifting them out of the mental health crisis they suffer due to poverty. 

Thankyou for believing in these young people and giving them and their families hope.

The Tea Leaf Family

If you would like to hear more, we’d love to send you our monthly newsletter, The Tea Leaf Times. You can  Subscribe Here