Women's Empowerment Project: How it All Started

Sisters Around the World: Montana Women Bring Reproductive Health Education to Kenya

Story by Lucy Smith - Photos provided by Lucy Smith & Sarah Rolfing.

Two Books – One Story

“Take my picture, and never forget me.” Words spoken by a village elder in Eritrea, Africa that Lucy Smith remembers to this day, along with memories of the countless people who captured her heart, and a world of needs that she will never forget.

In 2003, Smith took a volunteer leadership position with an international relief organization in East Africa and spent nearly 4 years in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya. In Eritrea she trained teachers and principals in 22 rural schools and helped establish a food relief program for orphans. Her chief duties in Ethiopia were to manage operations for a clinic that saw 100+ patients daily, and to drive the clinic’s Toyota Land Cruiser ambulance, which also served as its mobile outreach clinic. In Kenya, Lucy trained the management teams of clinic, orphan care, and food relief operations. In 2008, Smith returned to Ethiopia independently to volunteer in the urban ghettos of Bahir Dar. Her last trip to Africa was in 2018, to work with beloved colleagues in Kenya. Lucy remains connected to Africa as a board member of the international Women and Children’s Health Association and the Kenya Health Scholarship Committee.

Sarah Rolfing will never forget the people who captured her heart or their great needs, either. 

In 2009 she traveled to Kenya as a high school student on a service trip sponsored by the Rotary Club of Sumner, WA. Sarah was “so transformed by the experience” that upon her return, the young high school volunteer co-founded nonprofit Team Agape-Kenya to support development projects in rural, underserved parts of Kenya. For the past 15 years, Sarah has served as the nonprofit’s Executive Director and the Rotary Club of Sumner has been a backbone supporter of Team Agape-Kenya initiatives in education, water, hygiene, and health.

Sarah (age 33) and Lucy (age 71) were introduced in 2015 by Sue Rolfing, Sarah’s mother-in-law and a friend of Lucy’s. Sue connected the two knowing each had volunteered for projects in Kenya and were committed to the health and well-being of women and children living in Kenya’s rural and tribal communities. Each also had strong affiliations with Rotary Clubs in Washington and Montana.

Despite their age difference, the two women became instant friends and began imagining how they might someday return to Kenya together on a service project that combined their experience and skills. 

In 2018, Team Agape-Kenya and local partners launched the Magadi “Jeepline.” Like the Toyota Land Cruiser of Smith’s experiences, the “Jeepline” is a mobile clinic staffed by nurses from local health facilities and community health volunteers, that provides health services and education to rural and tribal communities. In both cases, the mobile clinics reach more than 1200 patients each month, serving primary care needs, administering vaccinations, and providing public education sessions to show communities how to prevent water-borne illness and reduce the transmission of disease.

As a registered nurse with specialization in reproductive health education, Sarah saw an opportunity with the Jeepline outreach to provide education to women and teen girls about menstruation and fertility. Lucy proposed adding sessions on basic hygiene and hand sanitation being used successfully in Rotary projects in Guatemala, and the Women’s Health Empowerment Project was born! 

Reproductive health education is clearly needed for women and teen girls in the Jeepline service area, where teen pregnancy, school dropout, and missed education due to menstruation are critical issues. Data suggest that approximately 1 of 5 girls in Kenya between age 15-19 years is either pregnant or already a mother: “Adolescent pregnancy is a key risk factor for school dropout, which is associated with lifelong social, economic, and health consequences, including higher maternal and infant health risks and HIV acquisition.” Source: https://online.ucpress.edu/agh/article/1/1/1811306/194929/Pregnancy-trends-and-associated-factors-among

In March 2025, Rolfing and Smith will travel back to Kenya to conduct workshops for teen girls aged 13-18, and Sarah will lead a Health Providers’ Training for nurses who staff the Jeepline. A girls’ boarding school has invited the two to provide fertility education for 250 female high school students, and the Jeepline will bring their workshop to 225 girls and women in Maasai tribal schools. Other schools have also expressed interest in hosting a workshop.

Each participating young woman will receive a “dignity kit” containing reusable menstrual products, CycleBeads, undergarments, soap, and other feminine hygiene supplies. A CycleBead bracelet is a tangible representation of the menstrual cycle times of fertility based on the Standard Days Method of fertility awareness. When used correctly, this method of fertility tracking can be up to 96% effective in preventing pregnancy naturally. Providing women with fertility education, promotes greater awareness in reproductive health decisions. 

It Takes a Village 

When Smith and Rolfing began planning their trip, Sarah teased that they would be very busy stringing together 600+ CycleBead bracelets. Lucy replied that it sounded like a perfect reason to throw some parties! At their invitation, friends and neighbors gathered for wine, appetizers, and the opportunity to make a difference. Not only did dozens of generous girlfriends make 500 perfect CycleBead bracelets, they donated $500 to the project and offered to come back “anytime” for another round of beading. 

Meanwhile, women in Sumner, Washington were sewing beautiful shoulder bags for the dignity kits, using materials with Kenyan tribal patterns. And there was more help…donations from friends and family, an international service grant from Montana Rotary District 5390, and a contribution from the Rotary Club of Sumner will fund all workshop and training materials, facility expenses, fuel for the Jeepline, medical supplies and a budget for on-the-ground needs at each of the outreach sites (food staples, etc.). 

And finally, a call for help… Sarah and Lucy were originally to bring their workshops to Kenya in July 2024, but plans were interrupted by political demonstrations that became increasingly serious, causing road closures and unsafe travel conditions. They want to use these interim months to “test drive” and fine tune their presentations and hope to enlist teenage girls from Kalispell high schools to be their practice group. They will seek the girls’ feedback to help make the workshop feel as safe, informative, useful, and enjoyable as possible. The Kalispell teens will also have a chance to make CycleBead bracelets for themselves and for girls in Kenya.  One Book – New Chapter 

Many years ago, two women from different states and different generations traveled to Kenya for different lengths of time to help with different service projects. But from there the story is the same. They worked hard and learned deep lessons about life in ways that only Kenya could teach them. They felt very small in the face of great needs, but their hearts felt bigger than the African sun. They dearly missed loved ones at home but fell in love with the people who welcomed them as sisters and friends. Their lives were changed forever. They traveled to be of service and were themselves served – blessed with love, purpose, and wonder. 

Now, they are thrilled to be returning to Kenya on a joint service project. And they can’t wait to see what this new chapter in their Kenya story will teach them!  Read the original print article in 406 Magazine here.