Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

SAVING FISH FROM DROWNING
The woman tapped her hand and shook her head, then unfolded
the cloth and extended it. “Two,” she said, and held up two fingers.
“Oh, two meters. Even better.” Roxanne draped the cloth over her
legs. “I’d love to wear this as a sarong.” She looked up at the seller,
who had covered her mouth to laugh, as did the other women around
the stall. She pointed to the bolt of blue check and shook her head,
then picked up a bolt of pink with gold highlights. She pointed to the
pink, then to Roxanne.
“No.” Roxanne swept her hand to indicate the pink should be
taken out of her sight. She patted the blue cloth and gave a satisfied
smile.
The seller patted the same cloth, then pointed toward a man in a
longyi passing by.
Heidi broke in: “She’s saying that this color and pattern are what
a man wears.”
Hearing this, Dwight held up both hands. “No way.” He strolled
after Moff and Rupert.
Roxanne did not look up. “I know it’s for a man, but I don’t care.
This is what I like.” She smiled at the seller, pointed to several men in
the marketplace to show that she understood. “Yes, I know, for a
man.” That done, the seller expertly measured off the standard
length of cloth for a man’s longyi. She asked Roxanne something in
Burmese, and pantomimed clipping motions with two fingers, then
placed her thumb on the cloth, as pinched fingers of her other hand
hammered up and down. Yes, Roxanne indicated, using the same
gestures: Cut it and sew it up. The bolt was tossed back to the
younger seller, who disappeared behind the stall for a moment, then
returned with the cloth properly prepared. The older seller called to
a thin young man passing by. He ran over and at her behest was only
too pleased to demonstrate the correct way that a man got dressed in
the morning. He stepped into the voluminous tube of cloth, and with
a pinch of the material in each hand, he pulled the excess taut at the
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