Lovingly known as “Mama Chai”
18 April 1951 — 29 June 2025 · aged 74
Kericho tea farmer who raised six graduates on two acres of green leaf
Kericho, Kenya Born in Litein, Kericho County Resting at Family farm, LiteinIt is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of NAOMI CHEPKEMOI LANGAT, tea farmer and elder of the ACK Litein Mothers' Union, on 29th June 2025 at Kericho County Referral Hospital. Widow of the late Philip Langat; mother to Emmanuel, Joyce, Nancy, Wilson and others; mother-in-law to many; grandmother to fourteen. Family and friends meet daily at Litein, Kericho, at 5.00 pm. Cortege leaves Kericho Funeral Home on Wednesday 9th July at 8.00 am for a funeral service at ACK Litein Church, followed by burial at the family farm. M-Pesa Paybill 601884, Account MAMACHAI. Rest in peace, Mama.
Across the hills above Litein, the tea bushes are so perfectly trimmed that you could lay a ruler on them. Most of those two acres belonged to Naomi Chepkemoi Langat, who plucked them at dawn for forty-six years with a basket on her back and a Bible in her apron pocket, and who always said that tea teaches patience better than any sermon.
She was born in Litein in 1951, the youngest of seven children of a Kipsigis farming family. She attended the local primary school until her father fell sick, after which she left to help on the farm. In 1974 she married Philip Langat, and together they planted their first tea bushes on a two-acre plot they bought from their savings. When Philip died in 2001 she carried on alone, plucking, weighing and delivering the leaf to the Kenya Tea Development Agency factory, singing hymns the whole way.
Her green leaf paid for six children's education. Her eldest son is now a physician in Nairobi, one daughter is a secondary school principal, another is an accountant, and the youngest is a university lecturer in Eldoret. Mama Chai, as the neighbours called her, insisted on one rule: every child must be able to cook, pluck and count before they could leave home.
She was an elder in the Mothers' Union at ACK Litein and led the congregation's Tuesday prayer group for twenty years. Her chai, boiled with plenty of milk and a pinch of ginger, was famous for converting cautious visitors into loyal friends. She loved a good laugh, her radio tuned to Kass FM, and teaching her granddaughters to pluck two leaves and a bud.
She died at Kericho County Referral Hospital on 29 June 2025 after a brief illness.
She leaves six children and fourteen grandchildren.
“Tea teaches patience better than any sermon.”
Wednesday, 9 July 2025 at 07:00 UTC
Add to calendarComing together to honour Naomi and support the family.
Funeral arrangements and the education fund for her younger grandchildren.
Annual remembrance prayer at Litein each June
Contact: Dr. Emmanuel Kipkemoi Langat
$256.50 raised through this committee
No fundraising target set.
Farmers supporting the family and a Tea Farmers Bursary in her name.
Cooperative offices, Litein, first Friday of each month
Contact: Rhoda Chepkoech Bett
$52.25 raised of $930.23
Choir, catering and prayers throughout the mourning period.
Church hall, Tuesdays 2.00 pm
Contact: Rev. Samuel Cheruiyot
$123.50 raised of $542.64
Sign in to start a committee or join one to support the family.
Memorial fund
Support the funeral costs and keep the younger grandchildren in school as Mama Chai would have wanted.
$560.50 raised of $3,000
19%13 recent contributions
Janet Nekesa Wafula gave $47.50 · 2w ago
“Mungu awape nguvu.”
Anonymous gave $28.50 · 1mo ago
Wendy Nekesa Mukhwana gave $28.50 · 1mo ago
Joseph Musyoka gave $9.50 · 3mo ago
Anonymous gave $4.75 · 6mo ago
“Pole sana kwa familia.”
Primary education
Litein Primary School1958 – 1966 · Litein
Left school in Standard Seven to help on the family farm.
Married Philip Langat
1974 – 2001 · Litein
A marriage of twenty-seven years.
Smallholder tea farmer
Kenya Tea Development Agency1979 – 2025 · Litein
Supplied green leaf to the local factory for forty-six years.
Best Smallholder Tea Farmer, Litein Zone
Kenya Tea Development Agency2011 · Litein
For quality leaf and steady yields over a decade.
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Naomi is survived by
5 people have shared a memory of Naomi.
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Sign in to write a tributeDaughter
Mama, you taught us that tea needs patience and children need patience too. We will keep the bushes trimmed and the Tuesday prayers going. Sleep well among your leaves.
Granddaughter in Perth
Guka taught me to pluck two leaves and a bud before I could write. I now study agriculture in Perth and tell my professors that my first teacher was a Kericho farmer. I love and miss her.
Vicar, ACK Litein
Mama Chai's prayer group was the heartbeat of our parish. She prayed for every sick child by name and never missed a Tuesday. We shall miss her laughter in the church hall.
Neighbour, Litein
We plucked side by side for thirty years and she never once complained of the cold. She shared her lunch of boiled maize and tea with anyone who passed. The hills are quieter now.
Son, physician in Nairobi
Mother paid my medical school fees with leaves she plucked in the cold. She came to my graduation in her best lesso and told every surgeon that her tea made me. Every patient I treat is plucked from her basket.
