"For a long time, because of financial instability, I have been sleeping on a tiny mattress that often affects my back. I am excited that Givedirectly came to my rescue for I used $80 of the transfers to purchase a mattress and now I sleep comfortably. Since my family of 3 depends on farming for a living, I am saddened that the farms have been unproductive for the past season and my family did not have any harvest hence resolving to purchase food using the money my husband earns from casual jobs such as farm cultivation. My PTA teaching job, on the other hand, is unpredictable since I can stay for months without pay as the school depends on the parents who are in the same situation as I am to pay for their children. As a result, I engaged in goat farming to earn extra income for the family through its sales once it breeds. I currently have 5 goats that are under the custody of a relative because I have not yet constructed a loafing shed for them. Therefore, I utilized $100 of the transfers on putting up a structure and now I hope to repossess them. For the rest of the transfers, I saved them as I await the rainy season to revert to maize, cowpeas and green gram farming."

"I was home with my husband when we first received the first GD transfer. I was very happy and thrilled because I had thought of buyng a piece of land that was just next to my house for so long. I was also able to buy a mattress and some food for my children. Having my own land to me means a sustainable source of income because my husband and I work in the fields and think it is a good investment"

"Upon receiving LS1, I paid 27 $ for my family's health insurance, I bought food worth 50 $, spent 90 $ to re-build the part of my house that had caved in and paid a 100 $ debt that I had. Paying for my family's health insurance and paying the long overdue debt that I had were what I wanted to focus on when I received my first transfer."

"Before receiving GD's transfer, we could not picture ways to finish the construction activities for the house that was supposed to provide for us. Receiving the first GD transfer was life changing because we could provide food for our grand children while carrying on with our projects. I plan on starting livestock farming oncce I receive the second transfer."

"As I continue to get my transfer, I hope to accomplish the goal of keeping livestock. So far, I have begun buying goats, and I am hopeful that as my herd grows, chances of raising money for my training will not be as difficult as they used to be. I will be able to get more money from them to help with my tuition expenses. Since I am the firstborn in our family, with the pieces of training, I shall find it easy to use my skills to earn a living and therefore be supportive of our family. Thanks to GiveDirectly for its financial support."

"I had hoped to start a sustainable poultry farming where I would rear indigenous chicken in a free range system, but I could not afford it because I had never had a reliable source of income. Receiving the first transfer from GiveDirectly provided an excellent opportunity to prioritize this project. I needed five rolls of chain link, three of which were four feet long and cost $75, and the other two were five feet long and cost $72. Since then, I have been fencing around the compound and am getting ready to begin the next phase of building a chicken coop after identifying a good design from a nearby farmer. I hope to start the project and grow it so that I can collect eggs and sell offspring to supplement my family's income. I have been running a retail shop in the neighborhood, and the stock has been depreciating because we have been picking our food and spending a portion of the proceeds without replacing it. With $300, I replenished my stock, which included clothes that I had not been selling before. I am glad this has brought in more customers and given us hope for a higher profit margin. In addition, I spent $49 on school fees for my child at a private primary school, and the remainder was spent on other household items that we were lacking."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is the addition of a cow, which we never had before. I am looking forward to a future where I have enough milk and don't have to spend money on it. I hope to start saving from the proceeds of the motorcycle taxi, which will be useful in starting other new projects in the future."

"Receiving the money from GiveDirectly brought me great joy, especially because I needed to buy more construction materials at the time. I was immediately curious and checked it when I received a message at around 4:00 p.m. The message was simple, and I knew it was from GiveDirectly because I was not expecting anything similar from anyone else. I used some of the money to buy construction materials on the same day after informing my wife, who was working at a nearby school. The next day, I went to a nearby shopping center to gather and purchase additional necessities."

"One of my sons had completed his clinical nursing studies but could not be hired by any hospital because he was not yet licensed. He needed money to get the license, which I could not afford before receiving the first transfer. I was also struggling to meet other financial obligations for his siblings. I gave him $13 immediately after receiving the first transfser, which facilitated his application for the medical license. I also sent $12 to my other son, who is a university student who needed to finish his project before his presentation deadline. Furthermore, I spent $87 on a sack of maize and 10kg rice, which we are still using with my family. I am planning to build a fence around my property to control the movement of my livestock, and I have already spent $12 on two rolls of barbed wire and have yet to cut down some trees to make the fencing poles. I used the remainder to pay my hospital bill following an accidental scratch on my leg from our domestic cat. I am relieved it was not a serious attack, and I have been going to a nearby hospital for a daily $10 injection since then."

"My biggest accomplishment this year and in the future will be to increase my savings so that I can purchase livestock. I can be sure that if I venture into livestock raising, I'll make enough money to meet my needs. I'll buy more goats and enough animal feed with the money from my monthly stipend. This will guarantee that the herd of animals will multiply and have plenty to sell at the market."