Ụdaume Heritage · one keeper
Ụda is the sound. Ume is the breath that carries it.
From a yes in a compound in Igboland to a great-grandchild in Houston, Ụdaume keeps a voice the whole way: recorded with consent, named, and held by the family who decide who hears it.
Every leg, one keeper
Follow one grandmother’s song.
Leg 01 · The compound
It starts with a yes.
Nne Adaeze, 81, says yes on her own page before anything is recorded. No account, no password, and she can change her mind with the same link.
- Consent first
- Her own page
- She can say no later
REC 01:12NNE ADAEZE- Sung by
- Nne Adaeze
- Town
- Obodo
- Date
- 14 Dec 2026
- Occasion
- Wedding song
Leg 02 · The recording
Her name goes on it as it records.
Who sang, where, when and for what occasion, written down the moment it is recorded. Never added later from memory.
- Sung by
- Town
- Date
- Occasion
Leg 03 · The family
The family hears it first.
It lives in the family’s archive on Ụdaume, private, until they choose otherwise. Her grandson in London plays it to his children.
- Family only
- Free app
- Any phone
Leg 04 · The town
If the family says so, the town hears it.
One recording at a time, the family chooses: only us, our town, or everyone. Her town’s ring lights when its first voice is kept.
- Family
- Town
- Everyone
Leg 05 · The radio
Then the whole of Igboland can listen.
Nothing goes public without her second yes. Then it can play on Ụdaume FM, the radio inside the app, where Igbo people everywhere tune in together.
- A second yes
- Ụdaume FM
- Inside the app
Leg 06 · The archive
A home that outlasts all of us.
We are working to copy every public recording to a university or archive partner, so it survives any one organisation, including ours.
- A second copy
- Outlives Ụdaume
Ụwa · the world
Igbo voices, wherever Igbo people are.
A song sung in a compound can be heard by the family in London, Houston and Johannesburg the same day, and by their children long after.
● IgbolandLagosLondonHoustonAtlantaTorontoDubaiJohannesburg
Nkwa · how we keep
Five promises, on every recording.
Consent before the microphone.
Nothing is recorded without a yes, and nothing goes public without a second one.
A name on every recording.
Who sang, where, when and for what occasion, written down as it is recorded.
Families decide who hears.
The family alone, the town, or everyone, one recording at a time.
Never sold.
No recording is sold, licensed or shown beside adverts. Anyone who wants to use one is sent to the family.
Nothing taken.
We never copy other people’s music or videos into the archive. Everything here was given.
“Online is not the same as kept.”Why Ụdaume Heritage existsWhat we keep, and why →
Obodo · the towns
Every town has its own page.
Find yours, see what has been kept from it, and send its link to your town’s WhatsApp group. None has been recorded yet; we hope the first lights this December.
Nkwado · give by bank transfer
Help keep the voices.
Gifts, given freely, help with the field work: travel, kit, the safe keeping of the voices. Nobody is paid for a story, no recording is ever sold, and every naira given is shown. The open book
Giving by bank transfer opens soon
Until then, write to hello@udaume.com and we will send you our account.
See where every naira goes →Questions
What families ask us first.
Does it cost anything?
Keeping a voice in your family on Ụdaume is free. Field recordings in the towns are paid for by people who give for their town.
Who can hear my mother’s recording?
Only the people you choose: the family alone, your town, or everyone. You decide one recording at a time, and nothing goes public without her second yes.
What if she changes her mind?
She uses the same link she said yes with. Her choice is hers, every time.
Can you come to our town?
We hope to begin field recordings over the December 2026 homecoming. Find your town, or tell us about it, and we will try to come when the people gather.
Ready to keep a voice?
Ụdaume is free. Open it, start your family, and ask the oldest voice you know for a yes.