SN
Swarna Nachiyar
Project Lead
Sets the direction of the project and holds the vision for what WRLDStories becomes.
WRLDStoriesA youth-led project of XChange
We record the stories that would otherwise disappear.
WRLDStories is a storytelling initiative run by young people. We interview elders, migrants, workers and neighbours about the lives they've lived — then preserve those recordings as a living archive of our communities.
No story is too ordinary. The everyday details — a recipe, a first job, the day someone arrived in a new country — are exactly what history forgets first, and exactly what we're here to keep.
Celebrate/Connect/Preserve/@xchangewrldstories
Our mission
To make sure that the people who built our communities are heard by the generation inheriting them.
Most archives are built about people rather than with them. WRLDStories works the other way round: the storyteller decides what matters, and a young interviewer is trained to listen well enough to catch it. The result is an archive that belongs to the community it came from.
What we do
01
Celebrate
Culture is not a footnote.
We honour the traditions, migrations, languages and small daily rituals that shape the people around us — told in their own words, on their own terms.
02
Connect
A conversation across decades.
Young interviewers sit down with elders, neighbours and strangers. What starts as a recording session almost always becomes a relationship.
03
Preserve
Memory needs a keeper.
Every interview is transcribed, catalogued and archived so it outlasts all of us — held safely for the families and communities it belongs to.
"When an elder dies, a library burns. We're just trying to get there with a recorder before it does."
The WRLDStories team
How a story is made
Four steps, every time
The process is deliberately slow. Trust takes longer than recording does.
- Step 1Train
Volunteers learn interview ethics, listening technique, consent and recording craft before they ever press record.
- Step 2Record
Interviews happen where the storyteller is most comfortable — a living room, a shop, a community hall.
- Step 3Archive
Audio and video are transcribed, tagged and stored, with the storyteller retaining a say over how it's used.
- Step 4Share
Selected stories become films, features and exhibitions that carry the voice far beyond the room it was told in.
The team
Four people, one archive, a lot of volunteers in between.
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Saria Hasin
Deputy Project Lead
Keeps the project moving — coordinating volunteers, schedules and partnerships.
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Sudaleeshwar Sudar
Archive Manager
Guards the archive: transcription, cataloguing and the long-term integrity of every story.
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Muzamil Sheikh
Editor-in-Charge
Shapes raw interviews into films and features without losing the voice behind them.
Get involved
Become an interviewer
If you're a young person who likes listening more than talking, we'll train you from scratch.
Share a story
Know someone whose life should be on record? Introduce us — a grandparent, a neighbour, a shopkeeper.
Partner with us
Schools, community groups and cultural organisations can host recording sessions with us.
The fastest way to reach us is a DM on Instagram — @xchangewrldstories.