The Tea Gardens of Bangladesh are an area of great poverty and an underprivileged people. Due to extremely poor living conditions, sanitation, minimal education and the lack of any modern healthcare provision, the people suffer with malnutrition and premature ageing. Most adults do not live past their 60's, chronic disease being a main factor. Visual difficulty is a predominant condition.
The men of the Tea Gardens are employed in the tea factories, spraying the tea plants, or work as guards or home helps to the managers. Some have to seek employment outside the Tea Garden. Their wages are below the sustainable living wage for Bangladesh at 120 BDT a day (just over £1 a day).
The women of the Tea Gardens make up the majority of the workforce. Due to severe malnutrition around 42% of them have body wasting disease, 80% are stunted or underweight which is much worse than the Bangladesh national average where 50% have normal body weight. the women mainly pick the tea, help in the managers houses or clean the drains. They too earn the meagre wage 120BDT a day (just over £1).
Tea Garden women suffer badly from anaemia and after four children and a hard working life, premature aging is prevalent and with that comes the early onset of cataracts and blindness.
