Elizabeth, 35, lives on a tea plantation in the hill country of Sri Lanka. She makes a cup of tea in her home in the presence of family members. While Sri Lanka is famous for its high quality tea, the process of making and producing this tea includes many people who are often invisible to the tea consumer. Plantation workers are issued 500g of tea per month for home consumption.

A young Sri Lankan boy leaves his home - housing provided by a tea plantation estate - and walks to school dressed in the local school uniform. While many improvements have been made in recent years to better the livelihoods of Tamil plantation workers and families, questions still remain regarding historical inequalities and sustainable living and working conditions.

A father and son brush their teeth outside the family home on a tea plantation in Sri Lanka. While many improvements have been made in recent years to better the livelihoods of Tamil plantation workers and families, questions still remain regarding historical inequalities and sustainable living and working conditions.

Female tea pluckers sort their baskets of tea leaves before weighing. The women remove any poor quality leaves or stems that would lower the quality of their plucking, and therefore their pay.

A security guard at St. Coombs Estate puts on a heavier jacket as he begins the night shift. St. Coombs Estate, located in Talawakelle, is well known and respected for its high quality tea. Since 1928 St. Coombs, in addition to producing export quality tea, has also facilitated research done by the Tea Research Institute (TRI) of Sri Lanka in support of field experimentation to increase tea quality and productivity. A minority of tea production, 30%, is done by large plantation companies in Sri Lanka. The majority of tea production, ?70%, is actually done by small holder producers.

A female tea plucker plucks tea leaves with both hands. Tea pluckers are expected to pluck a minimum of 18 kilos per day to receive minimum plucking wages.

A female tea plucker in Sri Lanka holds a scythe used for trimming and pruning tea bushes.

Female tea pluckers work their way across a hillsides of tea bushes. The women each carry a long pole which is set on top of the bushes to help determine the plucking table; only leaves and shoots above the plucking table are harvested.

A scarecrow protects a home garden on a tea estate in Sri Lanka. Small plots of land are often provided for tea plantation families and the vegetables grown in the garden can be sold for profit. Nutritionally, it would be best if the produce was consumed by the family; however, many families will sell the vegetables and purchase food of lower nutritional quality but of higher quantity simply to make ends meet.

A young boy rides his bike through the housing provided by a Sri Lankan tea estate for plantation workers. Most tea plantation workers are known as "upcountry Tamils," Tamils originally of Indian origin. Workers were brought over by the British in the nineteenth century to work in coffee, tea, and rubber plantations. Housing is provided by the tea estates, but many families have worked the plantations for 100 or more years, and these plantation workers still have no land or property rights. While advances in health care and education for plantation families has improved in recent years, many families still live in subpar housing with a lower standard of living than many other regions within Sri Lanka.

A pregnant Tamil woman and young girl stand in the doorway of company housing provided for tea workers in Sri Lanka. While housing is provided by the tea plantations, plantation workers are the largest landless and propertyless class in Sri Lanka. Advances in health care and education for plantation families has improved in recent years, but many tea estate workers still live in subpar housing with a lower standard of living than many other regions within Sri Lanka.

Tea fields in the hill country of Sri Lanka. An evangelical church, attended by a minority Christian Tamil population, is visible on the adjacent hilltop.

Female workers adjust their head scarves in a sifting and grading room at a tea factory in Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka a female worker sifts black tea during an early morning factory shift.

Female tea pluckers weigh their tea leaves for a field overseer on a tea plantation scale. Workers are expected to pluck a minimum of 18 kilos per day. Anything less and workers are considered "below norm pluckers." 2015 salaries for tea pluckers in Sri Lanka are around 620 LKH/day (?$4.80/USD). However, many women earn less than this "minimum" as final wages paid depend on the kilos plucked per day and meeting mandatory requirements for the number of days worked per month.

A worker shovels wilted and rolled tea leaves onto a conveyer belt for continued processing.

After the rolling process is complete, batches of black tea are left fermenting on tables. The fermentation, or rather, controlled oxidization, is essential to the process of making black tea. The fermentation period is generally 2-3 hours, but also depends on the quality of the leaf and the tea strength desired.

In Sri Lanka female workers sift black tea during an early morning factory shift.

A conveyor belt in a Sri Lankan tea factory sorts different qualities and grades of tea. Barefoot workers leave their shoes outside the sifting room as they manage and control the different machines in the final stages of tea production.

Nursery facilities are provided for young tea estate children as their mothers are often working as tea pluckers and are therefore out in the field during the day. The nursery has both traditional hammock-like cradles for the children as well as metal cribs. While plantation workers and families are still overcoming historical inequalities and economic challenges, recent years have shown many improvements in the nutrition, education, and healthcare provided for tea plantation workers and families.

Young students in their first years of school on a tea plantation in Sri Lanka. While plantation workers and families are still overcoming historical inequalities and economic challenges, recent years have shown many improvements in the nutrition, education, and healthcare provided for plantation workers and families.

Young students in their first years of school on a tea plantation in Sri Lanka. While plantation workers and families are still overcoming historical inequalities and economic challenges, recent years have shown many improvements in the nutrition, education, and healthcare provided for plantation workers and families.

Nursery facilities are provided for young tea estate children as their mothers are often working as tea pluckers and are therefore out in the field during the day. While plantation workers and families are still overcoming historical inequalities and economic challenges, recent years have shown many improvements in the nutrition, education, and healthcare provided for plantation workers and families.

A house provided for plantation workers on a tea estate in Sri Lanka sports colorful flowers and drying laundry. While many improvements have been made in recent years to better the livelihoods of Tamil plantation workers and families, questions still remain regarding historical inequalities and sustainable living and working conditions.

A female worker in a Sri Lankan tea factory sweeps tea dust off the factory floor.

A man dumps baskets of freshly plucked tea leaves in withering troughs. The leaves are left overnight, for approximately 12-16 hours, with warm air circulating below the troughs. The withering process reduces the moisture content of the leaves by one third to one half, preparing the leaves to be rolled and processed the following day.

A worker in a Sri Lanka tea factory calculates the daily total of fresh green leaves entered and processed. Other factory workers dump full baskets of the day's plucked leaves in withering troughs to be left overnight.