The ROOTS Fellowship Foundation, a nonprofit fiscally sponsored by Modern Spirit, has announced funding for four new projects aimed at preserving Indigenous spiritual traditions in Colombia, Kenya, and Gabon. The foundation, whose acronym stands for Reviving Our Origins, Traditions & Spirit, supports education initiatives and community-led healing programs designed to keep ancestral knowledge rooted in local governance and cultural integrity.
Founded by Salome Augustine Bissa Kopasz, Krisztian Kopasz, and Marvin Vivas Rodriguez, ROOTS was inspired by the founders' personal experiences in Cameroon, Hungary, and Colombia. They observed that vital healing traditions are rapidly disappearing as elder knowledge keepers pass away without successors. Co-Founder and Executive Director Salome Kopasz noted, "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 this work is underscored by the global reality that approximately 1,500 Indigenous languages and their associated knowledge are at risk of disappearing. Communities speaking 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. Co-Founder Marvin Vivas Rodriguez emphasized, "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 active projects span Africa and South America. In Colombia's Putumayo region, the Inga Community holds traditional wisdom workshops monthly for 40–50 students in midwifery, traditional arts, and medicinal preparation, alongside communal Yagé ceremonies conducted by Taitas. The Arhuaco Community in Sasaima 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 Kenya's Kwale County, the Duruma Community project protects the Duruma Kaya lineage and its sacred forest traditions by supporting mganga Baba Mwatela Masai and his successor daughter, Sipi Mwatela, through her multi-year apprenticeship encompassing healing drums, herbal knowledge, and ceremonial practice. In Gabon's Bilandzambi, the Y’azo Leyissa Academy, 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 501(c)(3) organization. All contributions are tax-deductible for U.S. donors. To support a project or learn more, visit www.rootsfellowshipfoundation.org.
