FILM IT
Horizontal phone, quiet room, name-place-date spoken aloud. The standard is below — it's easy.
// ARCHIVE — HISTORY ARCHIVE
Your cucu holds stories no book does. Film her on your phone. Upload it to YOUR YouTube as unlisted. Send us the link. Earn points that become money. That's the whole hustle.
1.31°S / 37.26°E — MACHAKOS, KENYA · THE ARCHIVE — KENYA'S LIVING HISTORY
// HOW IT FLOWS
YOUR YOUTUBE. YOUR VIDEO. OUR ARCHIVE. YOUR POINTS.
UPLOAD IT AS UNLISTED
To YOUR OWN YouTube channel. Unlisted means: not public, not searchable, but anyone with the link can watch. Your video stays yours — you can delete it anytime.
SEND US THE LINK
One WhatsApp message with your name, the category, who’s in the video, and the link.
GET VETTED, GET POINTS
We review against the standard. Approved = 100 points. 10 points = KES 1, paid out via M-Pesa monthly.
No accounts. No passwords. No uploads to our servers. WhatsApp is the login.
why not upload straight to us? honest answer: hosting video is expensive and our storage is small — a few hundred videos would sink the site. your youtube is free, unlimited, and fast everywhere. you keep ownership, we get a watchable link, nobody's server crashes. everybody eats.
// WHY IT MATTERS
NO BOOK HOLDS THIS PICTURE
Textbooks carry the official version. The Archive carries yours.
THE FULL PICTURE
Piece oral histories together with the available records and a picture emerges that no book holds — the wars, the migrations, the weddings, the ordinary Tuesdays that made a people.
YOUTH, ANYWHERE
It empowers young people anywhere in the world to sit an elder down, press record, and own a piece of where they come from — from Machakos to Minnesota.
REAL SKILLS
Every submission teaches documentary basics, citizen journalism and domestic history preservation — the same craft taught free in The Academy.
// THE FOUR SHELVES
EVERY STORY HAS A SHELF
Four categories. If it happened — or was faithfully told — it belongs on one of them.
MYTHOLOGICAL
The ancient stories.
WHAT COUNTS
- Ogres, spirits and trickster tales told by firelight.
- Origin tales — where your people came from, and how.
- Legends, proverbs and the songs that carry them.
ASK CUCU ABOUT…
- Ask Cucu about the ogre stories she was told as a child.
- Ask Guka where our people first lived before they came here.
- Ask about the song they sing at ceremonies — and what it means.
> film the answer in one take.
ORIGINS & GENEALOGY
Trace your roots.
WHAT COUNTS
- Family trees — names, generations, how far back you can go.
- Clan histories, lineages and naming traditions.
- Land, homesteads and the stories of how they were settled.
ASK CUCU ABOUT…
- Ask Cucu to name every generation she remembers — and their children.
- Ask how our clan got its name.
- Ask who first built on this land, and why here.
> film the answer in one take.
COLONIAL HISTORY
Eye-witnesses & inherited accounts.
WHAT COUNTS
- First-hand memories of the colonial era — work, movement, resistance.
- Inherited accounts passed down from parents and grandparents.
- Home Guard, detention, the emergency years — told plainly.
ASK CUCU ABOUT…
- Ask Guka what he remembers of the emergency years.
- Ask Cucu what changed when the missionaries came.
- Ask what your great-grandparents said about the settlers.
> film the answer in one take.
CURRENT HISTORY
Events you lived through.
WHAT COUNTS
- Elections, droughts, floods and the years that marked your area.
- Victories — local heroes, harvests, homecomings.
- Everyday life: the market day, the matatu stage, the first phone.
ASK CUCU ABOUT…
- Ask about the day the results were announced — where were you?
- Ask about the worst drought they remember, and how people survived.
- Ask what the market looked like twenty years ago.
> film the answer in one take.
// THE MOVEMENT
BUILT BY THE PHONE GENERATION.
Built for the phone generation. If you have a phone and a reason, you qualify.
NO ACCOUNT NEEDEDANY COUNTRY, ANY HISTORY
HA-01Media dropping soonyouth filming elders — kisumu
HA-02Media dropping soonthe review session — machakos
HA-03Media dropping soonpoints payout day — nairobi
YOUR GRANDPARENTS ARE PRIMARY SOURCES10 PTS = KES 1
// THE POINTS
MEMORY HAS A PRICE. WE PAY IT.
Approved submissions earn points. Points become money. The ledger is honest: nothing counts until it passes review against the Standard.
points.ledger
lab@boondocks:~$ cat /archive/points.ledge
your-ledger
archive@boondocks:~$ ledger --mine
0
submissions
0
points pending
KES 0
equivalent
> status: pending review — points credit after review against the standard. redemption: monthly, via M-Pesa / WhatsApp.
> your ledger lives on this device. cleared browser storage = cleared ledger — the official tally is kept by the Lab after review.
// THE STANDARD
PASS REVIEW. GET PAID.
Every point is earned against this checklist. It is the same craft taught free in The Academy — no gear, no fees, just discipline.
Horizontal framing. Subject at eye level, placed on the rule of thirds.
Learn framing — The Academy →Quiet room. Phone 1–2 metres from the subject. No wind.
Module 1.2 — Sound →The subject states their name, the place, and the date aloud at the start.
5–20 minutes is ideal. Let them talk — do not interrupt the memory.
CONSENT IS MANDATORY. The person recorded must agree to be archived and exhibited.
Photos must show recognizable places, times or events — with a written caption.
// SUBMIT YOUR STORY
PRESS RECORD. UPLOAD UNLISTED. SEND THE LINK.
Fill the form — WhatsApp opens with everything pre-filled, and the points land in your ledger as pending review. Or skip it and freestyle straight to WhatsApp.
Before you share a story, read how we protect contributors → YOUR RIGHTS
PATH A — THE FORM
Your video lives on your own YouTube as unlisted — paste the link, hit submit, WhatsApp opens with everything pre-filled.
PREFER TO FREESTYLE?
SEND THE LINK + DETAILS STRAIGHT TO +254 747 924 886
INCLUDE:
- Your name & WhatsApp number
- The shelf it belongs on
- A story title
- Who is in it, where, and when
- Your unlisted YouTube link
- Confirmation the person agreed to be archived
SUBMITTING A PHOTO?
Photos of recognizable places, times or events earn +25 points each. Send the photo with a caption — what it shows, where, and roughly when — by form or WhatsApp.
// FAQ
BEFORE YOU ASK
> still stuck? the archive desk answers on WhatsApp — +254 747 924 886.