The History of Yamaru Indonesia
Brother Han Gerritse CSD was working as a male nurse in Indonesia since the 1960’s. From 1975 he worked in Sulawesi. In 1985 brother Han Kapare started a workshop where young people could make paintings of christmas groups, the paintings would be used to pay for their studies. In 1986 Pax opened its doors. In this shop religious items could be bought. In 1991 students started to receive scholarships. All these activities were done under the banner of Yamaru. At the time it was an informal foundation that focused on the poor and handicapped. In 1993 brother Han was approached by a Dutch nun. She was about to leave Indonesia and was keen to transfer the care of ten disabled children who lived near her nunnery near Manado. 

Brother Han continued her work and regularly visited these disabled children and several other children in the dessa. Steadily the group kept expanding. Together with an Indonesian widow, he organized house visits to disabled children throughout the whole of Minahassa. Slowly the awareness grew that many of these children were not properly and adequately cared for at home. In 1996, the plan was born to found a proper home for these children. 

At the same time, brother Han met Michelle Borsboom. She had been a volunteer at a school for deaf children in Tomohon for almost a year and a half. Due to the fact Michelle had met many children with a disability for whom no facilities were available yet, she came up with the idea to set up a family replacement home for them. Back in the Netherlands she approached sponsors and the Vrivabu foundation was founded by the main sponsor. This sponsor financially ensured that we were able to realize Sayap Kasih (I think it is important to mention this). 

The Vrivabu foundation advised Michelle to join a local foundation in North Sulawesi, and the meeting with brother Han was a good step towards the realization of her dream. Together they were committed to building a special home near Manado. At the time Yamaru was not yet officially a foundation, but brother Han was nonetheless supported by it. On behalf of Yamaru, he was committed to the disadvantaged and disabled for about ten years. Soon Michelle also visited children with disabilities in their homes this would lead to more and more children coming into the picture. During this period brother Han received a request from the provincial health care officials to establish an academy for physiotherapy. Brother Han saw an opportunity in this request to get a step closer to make a proper family replacement home. After all, the students at the academy would need people (children) to practice on and he thought how wonderful it would be to be able to do that with the children brother Han and Michelle envisioned? In 1999, the St. Lukas Academy was officially established. 

Now the work could continue on the construction of a home for handicapped children who, due to various circumstances, could no longer continue to live at home. However, progress was too slow, and in 2001 Michelle decided to take in four children at her own home. Michelle used to live in Tataaran, where she and a volunteer had access to two small wooden houses. These four children could no longer wait for the family replacement home in Woloan to be completed. In 2003 the time had finally come. Sayap Kasih was able to open her doors and spread her protective wings around the children who went to live here. In the same year, the congregation of Brother Han and his sister Annet founded a support foundation to support the work in Indonesia. Michelle remained active in Sayap Kasih until 2007. After several years of distance, she has been appointed as an adviser to Yamaru Nederland since 2016. 

Since then, she goes on a working visit to Sayap Kasih twice a year. During these working visits she helps the caregivers of the children to increase their knowledge, give advice, direct them and provide a listening ear. Michelle is the eyes and ears of Yamaru Netherlands in Indonesia. Brother Han was actively involved with Yamaru Indonesia and Sayap Kasih until 2017. In that year he handed the foundation over to the brother congregation BTD who is now in charge. He returned to the Netherlands in the spring of 2018. Nowadays he is also part of Yamaru Netherlands.