Liza Wajong was 33-years-old and had a young family when she moved from Indonesia to Canada.

Sixteen years have passed since then, and although the move was tough on her, Wajong eventually adjusted to life in Vancouver.

But for many Indonesian immigrants who come here, the challenges of adapting to life in a new place prove to be insurmountable.

“There are lots of stories in which the integration experience was so hard that people had to go back to Indonesia,” Wajong said.

Last year, to help other immigrants like her integrate into Canadian society, Wajong formed the Canadian Indonesian Diaspora Society.

Although the organization’s goal is to facilitate economic integration for Indonesian immigrants, its first major project focuses on culture.

Our stories, our words is a collection of oral histories that tells the story of the first Indonesian immigrants who came to Canada.

“It’s a way for us to learn and explore the life of our pioneer families who came here in the early 1950s and their settlement and integration experiences,” Wajong said.

The project is in its first stages, but it will eventually become an online archive of stories that will be turned into a travelling exhibit and an e-book.

Wajong hopes that Our stories, our words will bridge the generational and cultural gap that exists between Indonesians who have come to Canada since the 1950s.

“The project could help the younger generation of Indonesian-Canadians establish a connection with their community by understanding their history,” Wajong said.

To do that, the organization is training the younger generations to interview the first immigrants and collect their stories.

“It’s important to capture the oral histories while they are still there,” said Naomi Kawamura, one of the historians who is assisting with the project.

She knows that many of the first immigrants are getting older, and that eventually there may be no one left to tell their story.

“I believe in helping communities empower themselves,” Kawamura said, emphasizing that this is done by letting the community tell its own story.

According to the 2011 National Household Survey, over 18,000 people living in Canada identify as being Indonesian or of Indonesian descent.

Although the community isn’t huge, it is representative of Indonesia’s multi-cultural background. Amongst the immigrants who have come to Canada are Indonesians of Dutch, Chinese, and Malay descent, as well as Muslims and Christians.

Wajong believes that telling the stories of these diverse groups can also contribute to Canadian society at large. 

“Indonesia is a multicultural society and Canada is multicultural too. We think there are valuable lessons to be learned from Indonesia’s tolerance,” said Wajong.

Ayu Ratih, another of the historians working on the project, goes even further. She says that telling the story of Canada’s lesser-known immigrants can help shape Canada’s evolving identity.

“What makes Canada special is that it’s constantly redefining itself,” she said. "By telling the stories of Indonesian immigrants, we hope to contribute to the Canadian identity."

To fund the project, the Canadian Indonesian Diaspora Society has launched an Indiegogo campaign, and is currently asking for donations.