About Us

Friends United for the Education of Liberia's Youth (FUEL Youth) is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting schools and educational development across Liberia. After nearly two decades of civil war, the Liberian education system is re-building, but the Liberian government cannot do it alone. FUEL Youth works in the United States and Liberia with Liberian Americans and friends of Liberia to support the development of an education infrastructure in Liberia. 

Organizational Objectives
1. Provide young people in rural Liberia with access to the knowledge, tools and resources that will propel them towards success.
2. Promote literacy as an essential and attainable goal through programs developed in conjunction with school staff.
3. Raise awareness of the realities of life in rural Liberia.
4. Foster relationships between Liberian and American students.
5. Support community infrastructures that contribute to community development and youth empowerment.

 

History and Staff

The inspiration behind FUEL Youth comes from FUEL Youth founder and friend, Edward Fahnbulleh. Edward is a Liberian national who came to the United States 25 years ago to follow his calling. After escaping the grim prospects he faced in Liberia, Edward came to the US to earn a university degree and raised a family in Washington, D.C. He has worked tirelessly throughout this time towards a goal of transforming the lives of the underprivileged and uneducated children in the country of his origin. A nearly two-decade civil war kept this dream a distant reality. But with the peace Liberia now enjoys, Eddie is seeing his dream become a reality. 

Edward opened the United Christian Academy (UCA) on Swaggart Island, right outside Liberia's capital Monrovia in September 2006. Where there was once nothing, a school was born. And Edward's goal was becoming a reality. As of 2010, over 340 students are enrolled at UCA, where no educational opportunity was available to them before.

 

Eddie has been working with the FUEL Youth team since 2006, when the team walked into Edward's life in a small neighborhood restaurant in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC. It was here--between serving hamburgers, milkshakes, and club sandwiches alongside Edward--that Sean O'Connor, Katie Yocum, Michael Raab, Christine Shepherd, and later, Alison Yocum, got to know Eddie and dream for a better Liberia. It was here, at Trios Restaurant, that friendships were formed, and a collective sense of mission was inspired. That is how FUEL Youth was born

 

With Washington, DC as a base, FUEL Youth works with our partners here in the US--including US-Liberian groups and others--and our partners in Liberia to make Edward's dream a reality for the benefit of Liberia youth. 

Contact Us
Mailing Address in Washington, DC:
3033 16th St. NW, Suite 102
Washington, DC 20009

For general inquiries, comments, or questions, contact us at: info@fuelyouthliberia.org