The Project Blue Academy is an orphanage for teenage girls, most of whom have been sexually and physically abused. It is located in Debre Markos, Ethiopia about 300 kms. north west of the capital Addis Ababa. It was started in 2010. Its mission statement reads: “Project Blue is a premier center of academic excellence for supporting and educating disadvantaged gifted girls to be agents of change in an emerging Ethiopian society.” Recognizing that that role of women needed to change dramatically and that ultimately the only people who could bring that about were women themselves once they were educated, Marco Guzzardo and Dr. Michael Barrington decided to establish a safe haven and center of academic excellence for 50 to 60 young women. These orphan teenage girls are provided with all necessities of life to be successful. The Academy is their home but they attend a local high school during the day. In the evenings they are provided one on one tutoring six days a week. Once they graduate and are accepted into universities Help A Life Foundation continues to support them financially until they graduate. There are currently 58 girls completing university studies. Maintaining 60 teenage girls in clothing is difficult. Due to the strict Ethiopian Christian traditions, the girls must dress modestly for sports which means wearing a sweat suit and sneakers.