Schoolbooks for Satemwa: a small contribution with direct impact

Satemwa has existed for more than a century. Maclean Kay, a Scottish immigrant, founded the estate in 1923, and it has remained in the family ever since. His son Robert took over the management, and today Alexander Kay, the founder's grandson, leads the estate. This continuity is rare in the tea industry. Most plantations changed hands multiple times during that period, or disappeared altogether.

Satemwa produces a broad range of teas: white, green, oolong, and black tea. While many plantations in Malawi rely on seasonal workers, Satemwa strives for job security and stability throughout most of the year.

Their commitment extends beyond production. The estate is a member of the UN Global Compact and has taken concrete steps against deforestation in Malawi: every year, they plant a significant number of trees that have a positive effect on local flora and fauna.

Medical care on the plantation

The Satemwa clinic provides professional medical care to employees, their families, and all students on the estate. A 24-hour ambulance service is available for emergencies. Patients requiring urgent care are referred to the hospital in the nearby district of Thyolo.

Education in Malawi

Malawi has an education system with serious shortcomings. Many rural schools are poorly equipped and have limited access to electricity, clean water, and textbooks. For children in remote communities, the distance to the nearest school is often already an insurmountable barrier. School fees, uniforms, and learning materials represent too heavy a financial burden for many families.

The dropout rate is high, particularly in secondary education. Poverty, early marriage, and cultural expectations force children, and girls in particular, to leave school and begin working or marry at a young age.

The school on the plantation

The Satemwa Primary School exists through a collaboration between the estate and the government of Malawi. The school has around a thousand pupils. Satemwa's commitment extends beyond the primary school: through collaboration with various charities, they award scholarships to promising students who would otherwise have no opportunity to continue their education.

Schoolbooks

Following a visit to Satemwa in June 2023, we decided to donate new teacher guides and schoolbooks for children to the Primary School. Not because a single donation changes the education situation in Malawi. But because it was something concrete and useful, with direct impact on the school and the children.

Tea Kulture works directly with Satemwa. That means we know the plantation and the people, and understand where a contribution makes the most sense.

In closing

Satemwa shows that a tea plantation can be more than a producer of tea. A clinic, a school, scholarships, reforestation: these are deliberate choices to support the community around the plantation. That is precisely why Tea Kulture works with them.