About the project
What this is
The wisdom of generations that saves us from mistakes.
The World Wisdom is short videos in which elders give one piece of advice each, in their mother tongue. Grandmothers, grandfathers, neighbours: people whose words are rarely written down.
It is a bridge between generations. Elders speak of love, work, mistakes and lessons to spare the young from repeating other people’s mistakes, and they pass on what their hands know: dishes, crafts, sewing, the garden.
Grandchildren and volunteers film them on an ordinary phone. Volunteers write the subtitles, so advice in Uzbek or Karakalpak can be understood in any country.
Why 2–3 minutes
One piece of advice fits into two or three minutes, and people watch such a video to the end. Anyone can film it: all it takes is an ordinary phone, a quiet place and an elder beside you.
What ✦ means
The ✦ “Checked by a native speaker” mark means that the subtitles were checked by someone whose mother tongue this language is.
The “Original / My language” switch in the player changes the language of the subtitles. If there is no checked translation into your language yet, the subtitles are in English.
No AI
We do not use AI to create elders’ faces, voices or answers. Every video is a real person and their own words.
A speech recognition program may make a first draft of the subtitles, but a person, a native speaker, checks every line.
Where the recordings are kept
The original videos and the scans of consent forms are kept in Uzbekistan. The site runs on servers in the European Union.
At the start of the video the elder gives their first name, age and town. On the site’s pages we show only the first name, decade of birth, region and language: no surname, address or phone number. Submissions from the bot and the site are moved to the archive and deleted within 30 days.
More in the privacy policy.
Uzbekistan → the world
We started with Uzbekistan and Central Asia, and we accept recordings in any language. Each new recording lights up its country on the globe.
Do you know an elder whose advice is worth hearing? Record your elder.
Team
Munisa Khazratkulova
Founder and project leader
Oxford International School, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Munisa leads The World Wisdom and guides the team. She reaches out to elders, earns their trust and brings their stories to the project.
Languages: Uzbek, Russian, English, German, Korean, Chinese, Tajik
Favourite advice from our elders
Don’t believe everyone, because even your closest friend may betray you.
Madina Shokirova
Co-founder and creative director (video stories and design)
Oxford International School, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Madina shapes how every story looks and feels. She directs the video storytelling and designs the visual identity of the project, so each elder’s voice is presented with care.
Languages: Uzbek, Russian, English, Tajik