Moctar Yarba's African fabric.

Djema Imports, a New York City neighborhood store, does not look like the Rockwellian general store of yesteryear. But one can find neighborhood children scrambling through the aisles carrying their homework, locals gathering to gossip and a perpetually smiling store owner. These staples of the fabled neighborhood store can be found at shopkeeper Moctar Yarba's shop at 71 W. 125th Street in New York City. Yarba arrived in New York City with eighty dollars and a suitcase, unable to speak English and knowing no one. At the airport, he overheard a man speaking a language he recognized from home and asked for help finding the African community in New York. The stranger volunteered to drop Yarba where many African immigrants worked.