ROOTS Fellowship Foundation, fiscally sponsored by Modern Spirit, announced Tuesday the funding of four new projects to safeguard Indigenous spiritual traditions in Colombia, Kenya, and Gabon. The foundation supports education initiatives and community-led healing programs designed to keep ancestral knowledge rooted in local governance and cultural integrity.
ROOTS, an acronym for Reviving Our Origins, Traditions & Spirit, was established by co-founders Salome Augustine Bissa Kopasz, Krisztian Kopasz, and Marvin Vivas Rodriguez. Based on personal experience in Cameroon, Hungary, and Colombia, the founders believe vital healing traditions are rapidly disappearing. Salome Kopasz, co-founder and executive director, stated, “In Africa, when an elder passes away, a library burns. My grandmother was the medicine woman and leader of her village. When she died, there was no one to carry her role forward. ROOTS exists to change that story — not just for her community, but for every lineage at risk.”
The urgency of ROOTS’ work is underscored by the fact that about 1,500 Indigenous languages and their knowledge are at risk of disappearing. Communities that speak these languages collectively steward 40% of the world’s remaining intact forests, yet their knowledge keepers face what international observers have described as a grave risk of physical and cultural extermination. ROOTS addresses this crisis by empowering elders, spiritual leaders, and their chosen successors with resources, working from within each community rather than introducing outside frameworks.
Each supported project identifies a lineage holder and their apprentice, covering basic living and educational costs to allow full immersion in spiritual training — a years-long commitment that cannot be combined with conventional employment. Marvin Vivas Rodriguez, co-founder, said, “These traditions are not museum pieces. They are living systems of healing that entire communities depend on. We are here to ensure the next generation of lineage holders can actually do their work.”
The four community-led programs span Africa and South America. In the Inga Community in Putumayo, Colombia, traditional wisdom workshops are held monthly for 40–50 students in midwifery, traditional arts, and medicinal preparation, alongside communal Yagé ceremonies. The Arhuaco Community in Sasaima, Colombia, supports Mamo Lorenzo Izquierdo, an internationally recognized Arhuaco spiritual leader, and funds the complete training of his son as the community’s future Mamo — a lifelong vocation demanding total dedication. In the Duruma Community in Kwale County, Kenya, the project focuses on protecting the Duruma Kaya lineage and its sacred forest traditions, supporting mganga Baba Mwatela Masai and his successor daughter, Sipi Mwatela, through her multi-year apprenticeship. The Y’azo Leyissa Academy in Bilandzambi, Gabon, founded by Yorick Ossavou Mombo, offers 11 preparatory modules in ritual practice, plant knowledge, and Iboga medicine to 25 students per academic year.
ROOTS Fellowship Foundation is currently accepting donations through its fiscal sponsor, Modern Spirit, a registered 501(c)(3) organization. All contributions are tax-deductible for U.S. donors. To support a project or learn more, visit www.rootsfellowshipfoundation.org. More information about Modern Spirit can be found at modernspirit.org.
