Missing the basics
57.1% of children in Kilifi County are multidimensionally poor (Kenya Poverty Report, 2022). About one in five children under five is underweight.
Where we serve · Kenya
The people of the Kilifi coast.
Near Watamu, Mijomboni Primary School serves the children of Mijikenda and Swahili farming and fishing families.
1,100
students at Mijomboni Primary (2026)
14
teachers we support
10/35
classrooms refurbished so far
57%
of children in Kilifi County are multidimensionally poor
Meet the dreamers · Mijomboni Primary
Big dreams on the coast.
Students at Mijomboni Primary, beside the new desks our donors provided, share their dreams. Press play and listen.
I walk to school without shoes, and without breakfast. I have a dream.Student · Mijomboni Primary, with her class teacher
I cannot go home for lunch. It's too far, and the ground is very hot.Student · Mijomboni Primary
I have a dream, and I wish Dreamers Wish Foundation will help me fulfill it.Student · Mijomboni Primary
When I grow up, I would like to be a teacher.Student · Mijomboni Primary
I would like to be a surgeon when I grow up.Grade 4 · Mijomboni Primary
With all the challenges I will face, I'm sure I will fulfill my dream.Grade 4 · Mijomboni Primary
I would like to be a lawyer when I grow up.Student · Mijomboni Primary
When I grow up, I would be a doctor.Students · Mijomboni Primary · 2026
Filmed at Mijomboni Primary School, Kilifi County, November 2023.
The problem · Kenya
Hungry, barefoot, and out of room.
Many children walk to school barefoot and hungry, then learn in crowded classrooms without enough desks, toilets or technology.
A long, hungry day
Students walk about 2 km to school without shoes or breakfast, and can't go home for lunch.
Too many children, too few classrooms
When we arrived, more than 1,000 children had no desks, and 26 teachers and hundreds of students shared two toilets.
Our answer
- Desks and refurbished classrooms
- A computer lab, with Starlink internet next
- Our Dental Hygiene Workshop
- Hygiene kits so girls don't miss school
Sources: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Kenya Poverty Report (2022); students' own words, Mijomboni Primary (2023); Dreamers Wish Foundation program records.
Why Kenya?
It started with a food truck.
At a Salt Lake City market fair, Godwill stopped at the Namash Swahili Restaurant food truck. Ishmael saw his Dreamers Wish shirt and said, "There's someone you need to meet."
That was his nephew, Jamal, a former refugee, who asked us to help the schools in his home village. Jamal has been our Country Director in Kenya ever since. Together with the community, we've helped transform Mijomboni School:
- 1,500 children served
- 60 desks delivered
- A computer lab, with training for teachers and students
- School attendance up 20%
- Girls no longer missing school because of period poverty
2023
A first STEM lab
Refurbished classrooms, teacher laptops, and Mijomboni's first STEM lab, with 19 laptops and a RACHEL offline learning server.
2023–25
Desks, books and sport
60+ desks for students who had sat on the floor, library books, and volleyball and soccer coaching.
2026
Healthy smiles
We launched our Dental Hygiene Workshop, refurbished more classrooms and added library books.
2026 plan
$30,000 for 1,100 students
STEM lab with 20 computers and robotics kits ($12,000), classrooms and desks ($5,000), sanitation ($4,000), a community internet hotspot ($4,000), a food garden and STEM kits ($3,000), and girls' empowerment ($2,000).
New in 2026 · Dental Hygiene Workshop
Healthy smiles in Kenya.
In July 2026, our volunteers and a local dental team gave students free check-ups, brushing lessons, and toothpaste and hygiene kits.
Before & after · Mijomboni, Kenya
The same wall, a new welcome.
First we painted the school's name and crest. On a later trip, students and volunteers added their handprints and a message of love.
Drag the slider to compare.
Irene, in her own words
A dreamer's story
Meet Irene.
At 14, Irene had never touched a computer. In our STEM lab she learned to type and write simple code, and soon she was helping her classmates.
Watch her thank the volunteers and donors behind her school's refurbished classrooms.
Impactful voluntourism in Kenya
Who they are
The Mijikenda and the Swahili coast.
The Mijikenda — meaning "nine towns" — are the main indigenous peoples of Kilifi County. Swahili and Bajuni communities live here too.
Families fish, farm and work in tourism. Nearby are the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Watamu Marine Park.
Trip · Kenya · dates to be determined
Ten days on the Kenyan coast.
Arrive in Nairobi, serve with the Mijomboni community, celebrate, and add an optional safari. The full itinerary is on our trips page.
On the map
Gede, on the Kilifi coast.
Mijomboni Primary School sits in the Gede area of Kilifi County, near Watamu and about 105 km north of Mombasa.
Open the larger mapCome to the coast.
RSVP for our next Kenya trip, or sponsor Mijomboni's 2026 program.
Sources: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Kenya Poverty Report 2022; Kenya 2019 Census; UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests); Watamu Marine National Park; Dreamers Wish Foundation program records and 2026 Impact Brief.