A Visit to the Kenyan Countryside

Our Rafiki Village administrator, Yeen-Lan Lam, took us to Kiembethu Tea Farm about an hour from our village.  We were presented with cups of tea, and then Fiona, the tea farmer, explained how tea bushes grow, and are picked, and how the leaves are processed into tea.  Kenya is the world's largest exporter of black tea.

Only 2 leaves and a bud are picked from each branch of the tea bush.  The tea pickers return to the same bushes every few weeks.  The tea processors are very particular about the quality and condition of each leaf.  Tea pickers pick with both hands; otherwise they would not make enough money for their day's work.

Fiona, prepared a delightful English supper for us mostly from fruits and vegetables grown on the farm.

Her family built the neighborhood school and Anglican church in their early days in Kenya.