The shirt off his back

–a conversation piece …. Over the past year, Kevin had several short sleeves shirts made. They were cheap and cheery and he’s been very happy with them.  

Christmas was fast approaching and another made-to-order shirt, this time with long sleeves, would be a great gift and, effortless?  

One of the staff here at our office always comes to work handsomely dressed and everyone jokes about it, because the rest of us dress very informally and I mean, informally ...   Hence, through my translator, I asked my colleague for the name of the tailor that made his shirts, making a point of telling him that I would look after it the ins and outs of getting it done.  Appreciating the complement., he laughed, waved a hand and said ‘Ote paniaha’ no problem – I will arrange this for you.  It will be $5.00 for the material and $10.00 to make it’.   In the end, I agreed and gave him one of Kevin’s long sleeve shirts for size, together with the full payment.  He assured me that the shirt would be ready by December 25, and if not by the end of the month. 

The 'mysterious' shirt

Time passed. December, January, mid February… Feeling somewhat awkward, not expecting any miracles to a tall order, I plucked up the courage to ask my colleague if there was any news with the new shirt  -was it ready to be picked up?  A worried face surfaced.  He paused for a moment, and said that the market didn’t have the material or colour available that I wanted.  But, he had a plan!  He told me that he knew of a shop in Phnom Penh that had exactly what I needed.   Reassuring me with a wave of a hand once again with his  ‘Ote paniaha’ he told me to expect the shirt by the end of the week. 

Spending the weekend in Rattanakiri for Kevin's birthday

And so it was, on my return from the village a week later, a well-creased pink shirt awaited for me on my desk (together with Kevin’s shirt that appeared to be untouched).  My colleague explained that his daughter liked the new shirt so much that she wore it and left it on the side of her bed.   I must admit that it took me sometime to figure out what really happened.  My colleague had given me  ‘his shirt off his back’ for $15.00.

Today is Kevin’s birthday, and yes I gave him the mysterious 'custom-made' creased shirt that is a size too big for him.  However, Kevin said that he'll wear it on special occasions, in particular to show it off to our friend, our colleague (who originally gave us the shirt ) on days when he too attends  those special events :)   I've no doubt, that his  ‘brand new’ shirt will in the future,  become  a conversation piece...  

On that mysterious note, a very Happy International Women’s day to all you.  And, to the men who stand behind you, to be the woman -the great person you are today….

More later ...