As winter approaches many of us working from chilly home offices seek the comfort of steaming cups of tea to keep our hands warm and our minds focussed.
Assam in India is one of the most prolific tea-producing regions in the world. Tea workers in Assam make as little as $2.80 per day. Not enough to meet their basic living needs, this locks families into cycles of poverty and exploitation. These conditions leave workers vulnerable to modern slavery.
UTS students Kwan Yee Chang, Marie-Celeste Dagher, Julie Nguyen, Lauren Oliviero and Xiaoyan Tianare are acutely aware of the extent to which severe exploitation is commonplace.
As part of their final year coursework, they have been working with not-for-profit organisation Project Didi’s #SomethingForSlavery campaign. This calls on consumers around the globe to support fair wages for people working in the tea industry in India.
Designing a global campaign as coursework
Coinciding with International Tea Day, #SomethingForSlavery calls on us to reflect and take action on the dire realities associated with some of our favourite comforts.
#SomethingForSlavery campaign collateral created by UTS students Kwan Yee Chang, Marie-Celeste Dagher, Julie Nguyen, Lauren Oliviero and Xiaoyan Tian.
Clare Bartram from Project Didi says partnering with UTS students brought a fresh perspective on her organisation’s work.
‘The campaign grapples with a complex and often confronting topic and aims to make it accessible and actionable for everyone. The students really took the purpose of the campaign in their stride, developing engaging and thoughtful branding and assets for social media,’ she said.
In return, working with Project Didi gave the student team insights into the invaluable work of not for profits as well as giving first-hand experience of how design projects in a professional setting are undertaken.
The student team, tutor Robert O’Farrell and Clare Bertram from Project Didi celebrate the completion of the project.
UTS student Marie-Celeste reflects, ‘I gained a deeper understanding of the different work and the positive effects not for profit organisations have on the public and society as a whole. Working with the project allowed me to view the issues at hand from a completely different angle…the various amounts of work and dedication not for profits pour into their projects was inspirational.’
Want to join the campaign? From International Tea Day (21 May), join Project Didi in advocating for a living wage for tea workers.
Supporting community organisations
Project Didi is one of many not-for-profits who have worked with UTS students through curriculum-integrated projects for 23 years.
The UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion links not for profit organisations to university expertise through such projects carried out by students as part of their coursework. This is run through our Shopfront community coursework program.
While students gain expertise and the tools to enact personal and social responsibility in their careers beyond university, organisations that would otherwise be unable to afford professional skills gain access to students’ professional skills.
If you are a not-for-profit organisation and would like to work with UTS students, submit your project online by 31 July 2020 to be considered for the Spring Session (August to October).
To find out more about UTS’s approach to tackling modern slavery within our own supply chains, read our article about the Modern Slavery Act 2018.