Urlong started in 1999 as a purpose driven vocation fueled by the need to better the lives of remote rural communities by Dr. D L Nongspung and has since transformed into one of the largest communities of organic tea growers in the highlands of Meghalaya in India.
When we met with Riba in 2022 it was an instant match, her passion about tea and her determination to uplift the people of Mawlyingot, a village nestled in the mountains of Meghalaya, is what made us want to partner with Urlong tea.
It all starts with Riba’s father, Dr. D L Nongspung, a retired teacher sent as a missionary, to offer education to the village’s kids. It’s on the ground that he realized how underprivileged and underdeveloped the village was. Lack of education and the lack of better job opportunities had led the community to earn money by selling homemade alcohol, a non-sustainable way of making ends meet as alcohol production also meant a very high consumption rate.
To start making changes and setting examples for the local community, he used his own teachers salary of INR 500 and started buying books for the children but quickly realized that although education was the safest route to get the community to change it was a lengthy process.
In 2003, while working around the jungle he saw a tree that looked like a tea tree and was inspired to encourage the community to use their lands and plant tea trees to start producing tea, a much more sustainable way to generate income in the long run as tea trees don’t require much maintenance and the leaf production meant a consistent and stable wage.
It’s only when NGO World Vision Scotland came into play and sponsored the project that Urlong Tea took off. With their sponsorship, Riba’s father was able to convince the villagers to start planting tea trees in their hilly farm plots, in exchange for money.
In 2008 the new born community of Mawlyngot tea farmers acquired new tea processing machines to help increase finished production and by 2010 Urlong Tea had made a name for itself.
Since the age of 13, Riba has been working in Urlong along with her father. Inspired by his dedication and philanthropy she took on the marketing side of Urlong at 16. She naturally took over her father’s role and is now leading the tea growing community of Mawlyngot Village in Meghalaya.
Keeping the legacy alive, Riba’s undying inspiration for tea and its many benefits is what keeps her going and wanting to grow Urlong. With sustainability at its core, Urlong’s organic tea has helped empower a community that keeps on growing everyday. And as the name, Urlong, suggests in Khasi, ‘it’s a dream come true’ for everyone in Mawlyngot.
