I am Shammi Shirani, living in a Kirinda fishing village. Majority of the people in our village are fishermen and therefore, ceremonial activities of any sort would be done with the help of a loan. Recently, we had our daughter’s ceremony for attaining age. Before the event, my husband and I prepared a budget for the event which amounted to around Rs 60,000-70,000. My husband insisted that we should and must serve alcohol as he would be treated differently at work otherwise. Most people around us think alcohol is needed to have fun or enjoy and when it’s not served, they look down on people. After budgeting for alcohol, the total cost amounted to around Rs 150,000. So, I told my husband that we should go ahead with the function without it. He was very disappointed and angry at me regarding this decision and did not even come forward to welcome his friends on the day of the function. What I wanted to prove was that the use of alcohol in ceremonies was a useless idea. We arranged music with a DJ. Everyone who attended the function thoroughly enjoyed the music and food, everyone was dancing, eating and having fun without a drop of alcohol which proved that it was possible to have a good time without alcohol.

This ceremony was an example to all the children that alcohol is useless and people can have fun without it. They too agreed to keep functions alcohol free in future. This was possible thanks to Mrs Rohini from the Janashakthi Bank in Kirinda who directed me to drug prevention programmes that were conducted. Another function held at our next-door neighbour’s house was also alcohol free. What they said was that since Shammi did not serve alcohol, they would not serve too. As a mother, I am extremely proud of what I was able to do.