It’s a Small World

Read as The Indo Project unifies Indos separated in the its diaspora which relocated people to multiple continents.

At The Indo Project (“TIP”) a significant part of our mission is rooted in celebrating Indo culture by unifying our people.  One way TIP does this, is by using the reach of our social media platforms. For instance, sometimes we’ll hear from community members trying to reconnect with family and friends, sometimes from before the war. TIP tries to share these requests for connection, because we know how strong Indo connections can be—even after all these years. One of the best ways we remember our identity, heritage, and culture is by connecting our community of Indos with other Indos. ~ by Sierra Jacob, Editor TIP Newsletter

Success Stories – We have a few recent success stories to share!

Christmas Eve 2020

Maureen, one of our TIP followers, emailed TIP asking that we help her search for a family member named Ronald. Maureen did not know when he was born but she knew he must have, by this time, been in his late eighties, early nineties. She knew that he had once lived in Semarang, had moved to the Netherlands, and then migrated to California. No one in her family heard from him anymore. She wanted to pass on her family’s personal message for him:

“Ronny, Walter & Carla would love to get in touch with you”.

TIP subsequently posted Maureen’s plea on TIP’s page and every Indo Facebook page that has a connection to TIP. After hearing nothing for a few days, one of our Facebook followers, who is an expert at connecting Indos, found an Indo named Ronald living in the North Eastern USA. Maureen reached out to Ronald and . . . it turned out to be the right Ronald. Maureen wrote us back to say:

“I wish I put my question much earlier on your site…You know what, (Ronald) had his reasons to disappear from the radar for more than 60 years. But man, was he happy when I phoned him and told him that he was still in the hearts of the people who he had left behind. He wrote, ‘thank you, you found me’.’”

“The only thing I regret is that I didn’t do this much earlier. I’ve been doing my family tree research for about 15 months; we could have been in touch much earlier.”

February 2021

Robert posted a request in the SoCal Indo Family Facebook page, looking for a family member. A TIP volunteer offered to share his story and post it on our social media. Within hours, someone commented on TIP’s Facebook post with a family connection. Now that he has a contact, it is up to him if he wants to reach out.

February 2021

Anne, from San Diego, reached out wanting to connect with other Indo musicians. She wrote:

“I’m a musician wondering if there is a group where I can understand any distinct playing styles. I used to play with my grandfather, but he is no longer here”.

We posted Anne’s call on our Facebook page and are waiting to hear if any music making comes out of it.

One of the many advantages TIP has is the amazing community of Indos we are connected to. For those of you who have signed up for our newsletter and who have LIKED our Facebook page, our everlasting thank you for being an active member of our community. If you aren’t yet connected to us on social media, you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter. Remember to subscribe to our FREE newsletter at https://theindoproject.org/newsletter/ so you can stay in touch with our Project.

While we understand people’s right to privacy and the many reasons people choose to disappear, we also realize calling out into the universe never hurts. We hope the universe will choose to respond.

Are you an Indo who would like to share your story with The Indo Project? We welcome you to describe your journey. Submit your story!