From burden to peace: How Senegal healed Julen's Basque identity

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For a long time, being Basque felt like a difficult, political struggle for Julen. It was only when he met a small minority in Senegal that he realized that language work can also bring joy.

Julen grew up in Navarre and attended a Basque school (Ikastola), but as a young adult he increasingly felt that his identity was a painful burden and a constant struggle against disappearance. He distanced himself emotionally from it until a trip to Senegal changed everything: there he supported the Bedik people in publishing a book in their language. This experience taught him that campaigning for endangered languages can be a joy as well as a struggle. Today, as a lecturer in Basque in Havana, he has made peace with his roots and completed the circle of his identity.