An open audio archive of the people of Lebanon — their childhoods, their towns, their grandmothers' kitchens, the war years they survived. Pinned to the map where each story took place.
Recordings from grandmothers, drivers, bakers, historians — each one tied to a specific place in Lebanon. Press play and listen.
Open the map of Lebanon. Each pin is a true story tied to that exact place. Tap, play, and let someone's grandmother walk you through her village in 1962.
Use your phone's voice recorder, or just send yourself a WhatsApp voice note. We give you a consent script in four languages and a list of questions to ask.
Upload the recording. Our editors lightly clean the audio, translate the title into three languages, and send a draft back to you for approval before publishing.
My grandchildren live in Montreal. They never met my mother. Now they can hear her village in my voice — and one day, they will know where they came from.
There is no archive of the daily life of ordinary Lebanese people. The official history books only have presidents and wars. Riwayati gives us back our grandmothers.
I recorded my taxi driver telling me about the bakery his father lost in '82. Three weeks later, his daughter found it on the map and called crying. That's the whole project.
Riwayati is run by a small editorial team in Beirut. Every donation goes to hosting, audio editing, and travel grants for collectors in remote villages who can't make it to us.