coffee plantation pt2 (india jan '06)
This is a set of photos from the coffee plantation we stayed at in Chikmagalur in Karnataka (see a couple posts earlier). During a hike on one of the afternoons I saw plantation workers bringing in the day's coffee harvest. So this is a set of picks from that... This is a tiny glimpse I saw into how my morning cuppa coffee is labored, by folks who are expected to work for $2.00 a day.
(actually the Karnataka coffee worker's union had just given workers a 100 percent pay increase 3 years before, so before they were expected to work for $1.00 a day.) Which in these parts is actually, abet on the low side, a "living wage". Then one can't use "Western" terms like "living wage" in the Western sense when looking at manual labor in India.
A view of and past some of the migrant worker's quarters.
These kids should be in school, "Ya Think?" "Well yeah they should!"
...
The rest of the set on flickr..
http://flickr.com/photos/byronic501/sets/72057594077438084/
http://flickr.com/photos/byronic501/sets/72057594077438084/
(actually the Karnataka coffee worker's union had just given workers a 100 percent pay increase 3 years before, so before they were expected to work for $1.00 a day.) Which in these parts is actually, abet on the low side, a "living wage". Then one can't use "Western" terms like "living wage" in the Western sense when looking at manual labor in India.
A view of and past some of the migrant worker's quarters.
These kids should be in school, "Ya Think?" "Well yeah they should!"
...
The rest of the set on flickr..
http://flickr.com/photos/byronic501/sets/72057594077438084/
http://flickr.com/photos/byronic501/sets/72057594077438084/