Adama Sarr, Laudable Woman Entrepreneur The Independent (Banjul) INTERVIEW March 22, 2002 Posted to the web March 22, 2002 Olufemi Jr Banjul Time for some naked home truths, readers. We Gambians don't give a monkey's about what we have, we don't give necessary propelling pats on the back to those who need it and, take or leave it, we are a wet blanketing lot! What more could I say if a Gambian, who has lived for 36 years abroad decides to come home to set up a business to play her part in nation building only to have Europeans (yes, Europeans!) for customers. This is what befell Adama Sarr, proprietor of Gam Tropical Juice and as she rightfully puts across here, Gambians do take each other for granted. Born in the late forties in Banjul, Sarr, with no formal education, left for the UK in the mid 60's with her husband where she worked as a hairdresser in Birmingham and later learned to process tropical fruits from a British lady. Home, they say, is where the heart is and in 1999, Sarr came home and set up Gam Tropical Juice, producing 100% pure and chemical-less juice. The support she gets from her country folk is devastating but Sarr hopes to surge on. In this issue of Portrait, she talks on her branch child and other related issues. Q. What brought about the innovation of Gam Tropical Juice? A. Well, I have been doing this all my life and to me, Gambia produces a lot of useful fruits, which is wasting. Therefore, I decided that when I come home, I'd open a factory, train girls that would benefit the Gambian people. Q. Talking of coming home, were you out of the country? A. Yes, I was in the UK since 1963. As a married woman, I'm always a very ambitions person. My first profession was hairdressing and I later switched over to food processing. A British lady taught me everything. She once told me if she passes away, she would leave no money for me but she would show me something that millions would benefit from. It was a joke but, now that she's passed away, it is coming to reality. Q. Did you come over to contribute to national development or were you fed up with the UK? A. Not really fed up, I think it is only natural when you are away for so long and besides, home is home. I'm very proud to be a Gambian. It's wonderful to be home among the community, to be a good citizen because we all have a contribution to make, no matter how big or small. Time waits for no man and we have to remember our children and grandchildren and make a better tomorrow for them. A foundation is needed for them and we should all contribute to that, others should not do it for us. In Europe and other parts of the world, the Gambia is very popular. We've got the knowledge, the ability and we are as good as anybody else. Q. Why the name Tropical Gam Juice? A. I've been registered and I'm dealing with natural fruits. I don't use chemical or powder. What I want is something to grow in the Gambia, which is tropical fruits. Thus, I called it 'Tropical', and Gam means 'Gambia', which belongs to all of us. Q. What was business like when you kicked off? A. Tough! Very difficult, physically and mentally. It wasn't easy. Financially; finding the right people to train wasn't easy too, electricity was also a major problem. We used to work at night and off during the day, to ensure the juice would be cold enough. It was hard. I have to thank my girls very much. They helped and made my dream come true. Q. Despite all the nitty-gritty, what really kept you going A. My family, especially my husband. He would say to me "whatever you want to do in life as long as you are not hurting anyone, go ahead kindled towards mankind! If God puts you in a position no one can take you out of there. As long as you are helping your country and people, keep on going. It's not your strength that moves you on but that of the Lord's." I firmly believe that because there was a time I nearly packed up and left. Now I would love to stay to see my dream come true. It's a challenge but I think I'll conquer it, insha Allah. Q. Who are your main customers? A. They are Europeans Q. Europeans? A. Yes Isn't that disappointing, as Gambians ought to patronize fellow Gambians and encourage your business? Yes. I've been disappointed in many ways because of the problems in Gambia. I'm not insulting anybody, but the fact is that we underestimate people. That's where we make mistakes, sometimes. When people have the ability that could benefit a nation, it should not be ignored. My main buyers are the foreign embassies, the German Forestry, Family Planning and up to Kafuta from where they drive down here to buy my juice. The Gambians around the corner could not buy my juice. I have very small support from the Gambia people and it upset me deeply in the beginning. Now I'm no more upset because I know God's time is the best even though they know something good is going on. Q. Why, in God's name, should Gambians give you a cold shoulder when you are taking a good initiative? A. Well, I think it is ignorance. I don't think most people know how good the product is for children, adults, pregnant women and everyone. It is good to have natural things. They think when it is not canned or packaged from Europe you are not drinking the right thing! We've got the best in our own home, grown, produced in the Gambia and it is cheap. If we were doing this in Europe, we would make a hell of money. However, money is not the main thing. My main target is to be here and work with my people Q. When you came back and Gambians rebuffed you, did you feet like closing shop? A. The only thing they would say was how could I come from Europe to sell wonjo? I said what is wrong with that? I'm not ashamed to do that. I'm not stealing, either. Really I don't blame them because the man is always the breadwinner. Being brought up in Europe for so long, my attitude has changed. I have become more and more independent because I have worked all my life and raised four children. I won't come here and do nothing, which makes me very uncomfortable. I like to work. Q. Certainly, a lot of money must have been pumped into your business. A. Oh yes! I think the future would be bright and things would work. Q. But you do pump out profit. A. You know, a businessperson would never say enough is enough. We managed to invest in a small way. We do make profit. Q. How large is your business? A. Well, it is something we can manage. I'm the founder and financier, with my husband and family's help. But it does not belong to me. Rather, it belongs to the workers because without them and Allah, I would not reach where I am. Q. What are the obstacles you presently encountering? A. To get the boys to work is a problem. There is nothing wrong with selling wonjo or juice. There is work here and the more boys I employ to sell, the more girls I will employ to produce. But I went all over the place, advertise in the papers and nobody turned up. Q. You must have felt left out. A. I think Gambians don't take me seriously. However, the Lebanese, who are my customers, patronize me a lot. Q. Does your business run all year round or is it seasonal? A. We work round the clock. The only time we rest is Sundays Q. Does the tourism industry..? A. (Cuts in). No, nothing to do with then. I talked to a right guy about it guy but nothing happened. Hopefully, being a member of the Chamber of Commerce can make a difference for us. Then we'll have a little voice, make our contribution because this is something that should be given a great support and things would get better and better. Who knows, in a century's time, it might still be here Q. Are you saying tourism plays no role in your business? A. Not really. We never had any contacts with tourists. We just work. However, the Romana Hotel do visit here with their students to see how we work. They tried the juice bought some. Beside that, we have not seen any kind of backup. Q. Do you have other business attached to this one? A. Yes, we do. There is a fast food restaurant, telecenter and taxis. Q. Meaning business is not bad for you? A. (Chuckles). We don't put all our eggs in one basket. We make sure when something collapses, there is something to back it up. We want to invest more preferably up country. Q. Will you lone-range the initiative or you will seek for support? A. Amm I do seek for support because I hope one day I will not be able to manage it alone for I earnestly want the business to grow. Q. Are you grooming your children to take up the business? A. No, I'm not doing that. I would say this company belongs to everybody. Maybe one day when things are really big, there could be shareholders. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~