GSSW Alumna & Current PhD Student Co-Leads Mission Trip to Kenya

“Whether it’s a product or service, those who we are serving have so much more to offer than to just be a consumer of our product or service,” reflected Bianca Smith, LCSW, Garland School PhD student and MSW alum from Houston. Smith’s doctoral research is focused on health disparities in the United States and the ways that individuals and groups can impact the overall wellness of a community. To supplement her research, however, she also turns her attention to the other side of the world to a rural area in Kenya where she has participated in service trips through Baylor University since 2019. 

From Waco to the World 

Naomi’s Village was established in 2009 by Baylor alumni Bob and Julie Mendonsa with the hope of building a holistic children’s home in Kijabe to raise future leaders of Kenya. Since her first trip to Naomi’s Village over six years ago with Baylor’s Department of Educational Psychology, Smith has seen the ministry grow exponentially. 

“When I started with them,” she recounted, “there was a children’s home and there was a school. Now, the ministry has grown into several initiatives – they provide a service and do ministry at every stage of life.” In addition to the school, they have expanded to now offer support services for first-time mothers and pre-school early childhood development. Lovingly dubbed “the Trauma Girl,” Smith presented on trauma and self-care for teachers and caregivers and even helped them establish the Trauma Sensitive School Initiative in 2021. It was then, Smith said, that she realized that she wanted to take other students to Kenya with her.  

In May 2025, Smith co-led a multidisciplinary team of 40, alongside leaders from Engineering and Nursing, back to Kenya to serve with Naomi’s Village. The team included two MSW students as well, Abby Winnier and Nakayla Brown. The focus of the team’s time there was to embrace cultural immersion and exchange, explore the integration of faith and social work practice, train as trauma-informed school and community social workers, and prioritize serving children and families – the fullness of Baylor In Deeds on display! 

The team achieved several key objectives during their time there, including:

• donation of an overhead projector and care packages to school's social services department which included social workers, school counselors and a chaplain;

• presentations on topics identified by the school as areas of need that included domestic violence, classroom and behavior management, and boundary setting;

• providing books to a third grade class, specifically to students who have multiple siblings and otherwise would not have access to books due to costs;
• working with the ministries Mtoto program which provides services to babies and first-time moms;
• providing solar bulbs to families with no electricity and water tanks to families with no running water.

Smith shared she was most proud of the way the team came to “assist in empowerment and increasing capacity, not to show up as saviors or to be in control or to tout ourselves as experts of anything. We were sharing what we could do when we could, but that work was really and truly to be done by Kenyans, those who were experts of the culture and the community.” 

A Lesson in Cultural Humility  

To help navigate the challenges of leading a large group with diverse dynamics, many of whom had never traveled out of their home state, Smith centered the trip around the Kiswahili philosophy of Ubunto: “I am because we are.” This was critical for the team to grasp because it allowed them to weave in the expectations, receive the opportunities that were present, and even normalize the challenges of thinking differently and in stretching themselves,” Smith reflected. This concept also guides Smith’s research in health disparities as she focuses on the impact that students, missionaries, and visitors have on the health of communities. She brought her research into practice for this trip by encouraging intentional mindfulness and asking, “How am I impacting the health of this community?” 

It was Ubuntu that directed the team’s preparation as much as the trip itself. The crew engaged in extensive training including a program from Naomi’s Village that focused on cultural sensitivity, a course on providing trauma-informed services, and various cultural assessments to help the students get ready for the cultural exchange that was to take place. Smith herself laid the groundwork for much of this preparation by conducting a mixed-methods survey with the community in Africa to share data with the team for the purpose of centering the voices of the very people they were going to serve.  

“Chances are, we will be less effective if we don’t simply slow down to listen, to connect,” Smith said. 

Looking Forward 

Smith is hopeful to continue traveling to Kenya and partnering with Naomi’s Village. The groundwork of that relationship is strong, as both teams are committed to being more relational and less transactional. For the Baylor team, that looked like beginning projects that intentionally required following up and further work. The local team in Kenya, on the other hand, provided feedback highlighting areas of success and improvement. It is evident that the connection between Baylor University and Naomi’s Village, driven by Smith’s leadership, is laying the foundation for an enduring partnership. 

 Smith is one of many who understand social work as a profound and practical ministry, noting that “ministry is hard.” 

“I joked saying, ‘I’ve got to be careful telling God to use me,’ because he does it. He does it!” Smith added. 

Sic, 'em, Bianca and team! We are so proud of the work you are doing and the impact you are making. 

Learn more about Bianca Smith, her journey in social work, and her private practice, iKultivate.