They came from a growing temperance movement which saw alcohol as the devil's own brew, the wreaker of havoc and the destroyer of family life and social stability in Britain at that time, particularly among the poor.

They had heard of the visit of the three great Chiefs from Bechuanaland to Britain to ask Queen Victoria's government and the British people to protect them from the scheming Rhodes; but what was probably much more important to these ladies than the power struggle in Southern Africa, what set their dexterous needles stitching, was their enthusiastic approval and admiration for the anti - alcohol policy of Khama The Great, news of which had reached them in far away Scotland.

In fact, their embroidery is a letter of praise to Khama for his teetotal stance, whilst at the same time wishing the chiefs every success with their political mission.
Reformed drinkers, like those who give up smoking, are notorious for switching to a preacher's style of evangelism for their new clean status.

Not so this writer; yet it is difficult to avoid the view that some of Botswana's social ills (like Blair's and Brown's "Booze Britain") are alcohol-fuelled, one way or another, and that some debate about alcohol (including the issue of price control) is called for. Many analysts and commentators in Britain have been pointing recently to the relatively low cost of alcohol as a factor in the rise of violent crime and social disruption.

I remember some years ago in Britain when the price of the staple food, Irish potatoes, suddenly sky-rocketed. An economist friend commented at the time that there was a law of economics which said that when this happened, people would buy more potatoes! He went on to explain this paradox by saying that when people had to pay greatly increased prices for their staple, they had much less disposable income left over, and thus, meat and other food items became much less affordable. So, to fill the gap they bought more potatoes!

If this general law of economics holds true for alcohol, then the recently introduced increase could lead to even higher levels of drinking, if alcohol is regarded as staple!
Perhaps the answer to the problem of strong drink lies in moderation: a man looks forward keenly to a couple of beers every Friday night as a reward for a sober week's toil.

He can't afford to drink more than once a week anyway, because it's too expensive. He may wake up the next morning with a mild hangover, but both his pocket, and his reputation as a respectable citizen will remain relatively unharmed, until he tests them again the following Friday. This is the way that ordinary men used to drink.

Years of much heavier boozing caused this writer to give up the demon drink completely, for the sake of his health, perhaps his very survival. One and a half year on, and not only has his health been restored, but also the calculator shows him a net saving of around P20,000 - for his brief period of sobriety.

Those who drink less, obviously, spend less, and stand to save more. The challenge is to achieve moderation.A reformed alcoholic friend once explained, Coca Cola in hand, "One drink is not enough, but two is one too many! "This motto, or legend, would make a nicely decorative piece of embroidery to frame and hang on the walls of problem drinkers the length and breadth of the land, don't you think?
 
D Hughes
Tonota