New daycare center and Community Center at the Abbotsleigh Tea Estate
At the Abbotsleigh Tea Estate
It was a beautiful day on June 19, 2018, at the Abbotsleigh Tea Estate in Sri Lanka.
That day, Myriam Lufting, Commercial Director of Peeze Coffee and Chairperson of the Peeze Foundation, officially launched the Community Center on the estate. They were warmly welcomed at the center with loud cheers and enthusiastic musicians playing drums and trumpets. Beautiful flower garlands were first draped, and the well-known red dot (bindi) was applied to the foreheads of little children. This decoration is applied because it is believed to provide protection to both men and women. After symbolically unveiling a cloth covering the memorial stone and cutting the red ribbon, the doors open, and the celebration begins.
After lighting the candles on the oil lantern, various speeches and performances take place. During the performances, the children are dressed in traditional dance attire. It is a beautiful ceremony where gratitude is repeatedly expressed. In her speech, Myriam also wished the people much happiness with the new ‘community center’ and expressed gratitude that, through the collaboration between the Peeze Foundation and the Fair Grounds Foundation, they were able to realize the construction.
The connection with Sri Lanka was truly established by Peeze Coffee during an initial trip in 2013. Partly due to this journey, the decision was made to source the own brand Communitea tea from here. This brand, produced by Axxent Masters in Tea, active in Sri Lanka since 2006, serves as a connection between both companies and Sri Lanka.
Furthermore, at that time, an assessment was made of how the Peeze Foundation could further support the tea plantations. When it became evident that there was a need for a Community Centre, it was decided to initiate a project from the Peeze Foundation in collaboration with the Fair Grounds Foundation and Hatton Plantations (owner of the estate) to provide additional support to the Sri Lankan population. The community center, renamed Communitea Centre for the occasion, has become a beautiful building.
On April 30, 2018, a daycare center was already opened to tremendous local interest. The daycare center is located in the Marske Division of the Abbotsleigh Tea Estate in Sri Lanka. With the investment made by the Fair Grounds Foundation, the entire facility was ‘renovated,’ except for the existing walls. New roof, new sanitation, new space for cribs, a new kitchen, as well as a new small office for the supervisor of this facility.
Abbotsleigh is located at an altitude of 1,300 meters in the Ambagamuwa division of the Nuwara Eliya district, approximately 125 km from Colombo. The first tea production on this estate dates back to 1892. Currently, Hatton Plantations PLC manages this estate. The total area of the estate is 427.46 hectares, and it is home to 603 families. The overall population of the estate is 2,759 individuals, consisting of 849 men, 1,145 women, and 765 children. Abbotsleigh Estate is a Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance certified estate.
