09 | Little Brother (Miñan)

This audiovisual is based on a visit by Amets Arzallus to Ibrahima Balde to
Madrid three months after the publication of Miñan. It explains the daily life of
Ibrahima Balde and, in the meantime, reflects on the ins and outs of the book,
oral literature and the affairs of migrants.

Ibrahima Balde was born in Conakry, Guinea, in 1994. For three or four years
he was an apprentice truck driver. Until one day his mother called him: his little
brother was missing at home. And he set out in search of him.

He crossed the desert; he met smugglers, policemen, kidnappers; he knew
thirst, hunger, pain. He made the way from Africa to Europe. He met Amets Arzallus through the Reception Network in Irun. Ibrahima told him about his journey, and Amets picked it up in writing. This is how Miñan was born. He is currently studying mechanics in Madrid.

Amets Arzallus Antia was born in Hendaia in 1983. He is a “bertsolari”, but sometimes works as a journalist and he is a writer too. He won the 2013 Bertsolari Championship and he was second in 2009. He met Ibrahima Balde when he worked as a volunteer in the Irun Reception Network. Ibrahima's oral account is brought by Amets to the writing in the
book Miñan.