Run for Africa

Run for Africa (RFA) is an annual event of the Girls University of Todee (GUT) project. The GUT is an emerging K-16 STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education environment for underprivileged girls and young women of Liberia. A tiny West African nation of about four millions founded by freed African Americans in the 1800, Liberia is emerging from a 14-year brutal civil war (1989-2003), a deadly Ebola Virus Outbreak (2014-2015), and a history of sexual abuse and marginalization of underaged girls and young women. As Josephine Gekpelee, a Liberia radio reporter put it, "Liberian women and girls need education to escape the vicious cycle of poverty. These children are between the ages of 7-13. Many have no place to live. They are out of school and don’t have parental care…There is only one way out of this poverty – education.”[1]

The GUT project aimed at providing a protective, culture of grace envinoment for Liberian girls and young women, giving them the space to be girls, lift their spirits to thrive without fear of harassment, prepare them for high-demand careers, and build the leadership skills they need to become self-reliant and productive citizens.