The Archive Speaks

About The Archive Speaks

From war zones to resettlement camps, from data to diaries, this podcast brings the archive to life. The Refugee Archive is a nonprofit organization and global center dedicated to preserving and amplifying the voices of refugee women leading households. Featuring refugee women, scholars, and archivists, it champions the power of voice, the preservation of memory, and the stories that shape policy, hearts, and minds. therefugeearchive.substack.com (https://therefugeearchive.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

The Refugee Archive Team

Category

society & culture · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Jun 2025

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

34 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   How A Single Mom Rewrote the Narrative for Refugees: Yvonne Part 3 | Ep 33

   Arriving in Nigeria as a penniless refugee with a six-month-old infant strapped to her chest, Yvonne faced the immediate, terrifying reality of starting from absolute zero. With her home back in Cameroon reduced to ashes and no family to rely on, she found herself sleeping on bare concrete floors in a foreign land. In this third chapter of Yvonne’s oral history, she recounts her extraordinary journey of survival, resilience, and grass-roots innovation. From working as a commercial bus fare collector so she could pitch homemade nutritional supplements to passengers, to saving up her earnings to buy a mattress large enough to shelter future refugees, Yvonne’s refusal to give up turned her personal hardship into a lifeline for others. What began as a single room providing shelter and vocational training to displaced women quickly grew into the Endam Home of Hope. Yvonne's testimony details how she built sustainable social enterprises, earned international recognition—including the UNHCR Innovation Award—and transformed her experience of displacement into a movement restoring dignity, self-reliance, and hope to thousands. What You’ll Hear in This Episode 00:00 The Escape: Fleeing Cameroon with an Infant02:35 Survival in Abuja03:46 The Bus Conductor & The "Soya Moon" Invention04:55 Why She Insisted on Buying a Large Mattress11:07 A Message to Single Mothers & Refugee-Led Aid Why This Story Matters Yvonne's testimony illustrates how refugee-led solutions and lived experience can drive grassroots humanitarian action, proving that displaced women are not merely passive aid recipients, but vital leaders of community transformation. Her story is also part of The Refugee Archive's broader approach to participatory and community-based research. By documenting lived experience directly, oral histories can contribute to Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), Community Engagement & Accountability (CEA), perception and feedback research, humanitarian policy and systems research, localization and locally led accountability, and evidence-to-action.The Archive preserves these experiences not only as historical records, but as sources of knowledge that can help researchers, humanitarian organizations, policymakers, and communities better understand the realities behind displacement. About The Archive Speaks The Archive Speaks is The Refugee Archive's oral history series documenting the lived experiences of displaced women and female-headed households around the world.Each testimony gives women space to speak about their lives in their own words — preserving memories of childhood, conflict, displacement, caregiving, survival, and rebuilding.Through this work, The Refugee Archive connects lived experience with research, education, accountability, and humanitarian action. Follow The Refugee Archive Stay connected with The Refugee Archive and follow new oral histories, research, events, and stories from displaced women:Facebook: @TheRefugeeArchiveInstagram: @TheRefugeeArchiveTikTok: @TheRefugeeArchiveLinkedIn: The Refugee Archive This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit therefugeearchive.substack.com/subscribe (https://therefugeearchive.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

2. 

   3 Oct 2026

   The Terrifying Night That Changed Her Life Forever - Nigeria: Yvonne Part 2 | Ep 32

   After earning her nursing degree and starting a new life working in Thailand, 26-year-old Yvonne believed she was stepping into a chapter of security and freedom. But when personal choices, cultural expectations, and political unrest collide, her life is radically rewritten overnight. In this second chapter of Yvonne’s oral history, she recounts the crushing social stigma she faced upon returning to Cameroon as a single mother. The public shame forced her into isolation within her own community, but an even greater threat was lurking. Joining what she believed was a peaceful Independence Day march in her village, Yvonne was suddenly marked by local authorities as a political activist. Warned by a friendly officer that her name was on an arrest list, Yvonne was forced to make an impossible choice. When soldiers descended on her compound at night and burned her family’s homes to ashes, Yvonne’s mother handed her a six-month-old baby, a small bundle of cash, and a heartbreaking directive: leave, run, and do not come back. Facing total displacement, Yvonne begins a dangerous journey into Nigeria as a penniless refugee. What You’ll Hear in This Episode 00:31 Life in Thailand and an Unexpected Decision02:15 The Stigma of Single Motherhood in Her Village04:25 Participating in the Peaceful October 1st March05:42 The Tipped-Off Warning and Midnight Gunfire08:06 Houses in Ashes: Her Mother’s Final Choice Why This Story Matters Yvonne's testimony shows how quickly safety can collapse in times of political turmoil, and how female heads of household often carry the double burden of social stigma and forced displacement. Her story is also part of The Refugee Archive's broader approach to participatory and community-based research. By documenting lived experience directly, oral histories can contribute to Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), Community Engagement & Accountability (CEA), perception and feedback research, humanitarian policy and systems research, localization and locally led accountability, and evidence-to-action.The Archive preserves these experiences not only as historical records, but as sources of actionable knowledge that can help researchers, humanitarian organizations, policymakers, and communities better understand the hidden, gendered realities of displacement and flight. About The Archive Speaks The Archive Speaks preserves oral histories from displaced women and female heads of households around the world.These stories are shared in women’s own words, without political alignment or editorial interference, so that lived experiences shaped by conflict, displacement, and survival remain part of the historical record. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit therefugeearchive.substack.com/subscribe (https://therefugeearchive.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

3. 

   24 Sept 2026

   What Happened to Her at 9 Years Old Shocked an Entire Village - Nigeria: Yvonne Part 1 | Ep 31

   Before she became a humanitarian and a refugee in Nigeria, Yvonne was a young girl growing up in Kuke Mbomo, Cameroon, in a family where caring for others was simply part of everyday life. In this first chapter of Yvonne’s oral history, she takes us back to her childhood in a large polygamous household where more than 20 people shared one compound. She remembers village life, her family’s cocoa farm, and watching her mother feed and support people around her — including Nigerian workers and tenants. For Yvonne, those early experiences became the roots of her commitment to humanitarian service. But her childhood also carried experiences she kept hidden for years. Yvonne speaks candidly about surviving sexual violence as a child and the fear, isolation, and lasting impact that followed. She also reflects on how education, faith, and leadership helped her gradually find her voice and sense of purpose.Her path eventually took her to the University of Yaoundé II to study law, where she faced the challenge of studying in French despite coming from Cameroon’s English-speaking region. After her father’s death, her mother’s advice led her in another direction — toward nursing. She went on to earn her nursing qualifications and later worked in schools and hospitals in Thailand.This is the beginning of Yvonne’s story — a story about the people and experiences that shaped her long before displacement, and the values she would carry with her into the life she leads today. What You’ll Hear in This Episode 00:00 Growing Up in a Large Family in Cameroon01:00 The Mother Who Taught Her to Serve03:22 A Childhood Trauma She Kept Secret06:00 Finding Strength Through Leadership and Faith07:38 From Law to Nursing09:37 A New Chapter Begins Why This Story Matters Yvonne’s story reminds us that a commitment to service often begins with the values we learn at home and the communities that shape us. Her experiences show how personal histories can offer valuable insights into the realities of displacement, the importance of community support, and the role of care and solidarity in people’s lives. By documenting stories like Yvonne’s, The Refugee Archive contributes to Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and Community Engagement & Accountability (CEA) by creating space for displaced people to share their experiences, perspectives, and concerns in their own words. These testimonies can inform perception and feedback research, and contribute to humanitarian policy and systems research that takes lived experience seriously. At the heart of this work is a commitment to localization and locally led accountability—recognizing that people affected by displacement are not simply recipients of humanitarian assistance, but knowledge holders whose voices should help shape the decisions that affect their lives. By connecting these experiences to research and practice, The Refugee Archive supports evidence-to-action, helping ensure that the realities of displaced communities are heard, understood, and considered in humanitarian responses. About The Archive Speaks The Archive Speaks preserves oral histories from displaced women and female heads of households around the world.These stories are shared in women’s own words, without political alignment or editorial interference, so that lived experiences shaped by conflict, displacement, and survival remain part of the historical record. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit therefugeearchive.substack.com/subscribe (https://therefugeearchive.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

3,122

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 15 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

4

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

0