Roots is committed to providing hope, health and happiness to abused, abandoned and neglected children living in deprived areas of the world. The goal of Roots is to assist in and develop long term, self-sustaining programs that will have a positive and lasting impact within the communities of these children and their families. The charity provides shelter, food, clothing, education and inspires children, giving them hope of a good future and helping them to reach their full potential.
The Prax Foundation, Roots, was established by the Prax Group‘s founders in January 2010 with the purposes of:
- The relief of poverty, sickness and the preservation and protection of health of orphans, in particular but not limited to orphans in Sri Lanka.
- The advancement of education of orphans, in particular but not limited to orphans in Sri Lanka.
Roots has also established a grant making policy to achieve its objects for the public benefit. The Trust’s aim is to improve the lives of orphans.
The Prax Group continues to be the primary donor to the foundation.
Roots is a registered charity, number 1136347. For more information about Roots, please see our overview on the Charity Commission’s website.
Background
The estimated number of orphans globally currently reported by the US Government and UNICEF include:
- 17.8 million children worldwide who have lost both parents (“double orphan”).
- 153 million children worldwide who have lost either one parent (“single orphan”) or both parents.
In Sri Lanka, today institutional care is the fate of many children who have been abandoned by their parents. According to UNICEF, of the over 21,000 children in orphanages in Sri Lanka, 19,000 of them have one or both parents still alive.
UNICEF says in most cases it is a family member who leaves the child at an orphanage. “In Sri Lanka, institutional care has become the sole option for many children because their family unit is destroyed, by such things as parental loss, separation or parental conflict. Another reason may be the war and displacement factors,” UNICEF said in a 24 July report entitled, “Out of Sight – Out of Mind.” Poverty is also a root cause with the family feeling they cannot afford to adequately provide for the child, according to the UN agency.
Our achievements and performance
The benefits of the Trust’s work are the education and care of orphans. The Trust currently funds two hostels with 73 children under their care.
