I am Abdul Salam Touray. We would like to tell you about ourselves and our bead business. I was born in 1963, and my brother Ebrahim was born in 1965 in Bajakunda, a small village in Gambia, West Africa. It is a poor village, with no electricity, except for a few houses with solar power brought to the village in recent years.

We had no formal schooling as children. At age nineteen I wanted to venture out into the world. I first travelled out of Gambia in 1982. I travelled by bicycle and train to Nigeria. I took my first plane flight in February 1982 to Spain, where I was a farm worker for six months.

Then, after a year in Germany, I returned to Premia de Mar, Spain, where I studied for four years and worked in the wheat fields. By this time I had learned Spanish, German, Arabic, French and English, as well as 7 African languages.

During this time, Ebrahim had also left Gambia for new pursuits. He went to Sierra Leon in 1985. There, he struggled in the diamond business as a buyer for resale until 1988. We then reunited in Gambia to discuss our business stiuation. We decided to put our energy toward a business in beads from the West African trade.

Ebrahim then relocated to Nigeria, while I went to New York City to do restaurant work. This gave me the ability to send Abrahim money to invest in beads for our business.

From 1988 - 1989, Ebrahim travelled from village to village, buying sometimes as few as 2 or 3 beads, never more than a handful from any one villager. At this time, he was selling his beads to traders bringing beads into the U.S.

1989 was a successful year for us - I decided to invest more in beads, and Ebrahim had worked hard to build up his stock. He made his first trip into the U. S. in this year, and sold all of his beads.

Our business had ups and downs in the next two years; from time to time I invested more money to help the business grow. In 1991 I took a vacation from New York to visit and work with Ebrahim. This worked very well, and we decided to join together. We have been full time partners since 1991.

We make multiple trips back to Africa for beads each year, not only to do business with our contacts that have grown over the years, but to spend time with friends and family. In 1999 we made our first trip to Yemen for antique coral and silver. We still go there approx. three times per year.

Beads are for us not only a business, but a life. When we go to Nigeria, we are visited all day long by people who have travelled sometimes hundreds of miles hoping to sell us beads. We cannot always use the beads that they travel so far to offer. When this happens, we give them money so that they can travel back home. We realize that as traders we can at times be vital to their lives, and we want to nurture their friendship as well. People with beads to sell seek us out because we treat them with respect and do not try to beat them down on their price or insult them if we cannot buy their beads on a particular visit.

Some of our friends have asked us to tell our story, and so we are happy to share it. Our lives and lifestyle have taken us to many parts of the world. We have grown an amazing network around dealing in beads and have made friends everywhere we go. We hope to continue for many years.

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