"I am employed as a casual cook at a nearby school where I earn $25 per month. My husband is a motorcycle rider and he gets at least $4 - $5 daily, but since the bike is a hire purchase he has to pay some amount weekly to settle the pending debt. Together we are blessed with two children, but only one is in school at the moment. The house we live in is not in a good condition, the roof is old and leaks during rainy days. Upon receiving the second transfer, we agreed with my husband to have our house renovated thus we spent $300 to buy all the required materials and to pay the mason. We also bought a solar panel for which we only paid a deposit of $50. With the remaining money, I bought some new pairs of school uniforms for my child and other clothes for the entire family. I also replenished foodstuff in the house that would last us for a month."

"At the moment I do not have a current goal, but I would just love to see my children proceed on with their education uninterrupted. With time, I hope to open a cosmetics shop to supplement my income."

"There is nothing wrong with the whole operation as many attest to the fact that GiveDirectly did its best to change our living standards. I would love for you to come back again if possible and help us more."

"The aim of investing in goats is that they are cheap to maintain and they have read markets since they are affordable and thus can be converted to monetary value anytime the need arises. Based on that, I came up with a saving plan where I will be buying a goat in every two transfers. This plan will enable me to have at least six goats by the end of the year apart from the ones which will be born in between."

"I have four children currently enrolled in school and the transfers have been helping me to clear their fees on time. My expectation is to see them achieve their education goals despite the financial challenges I am facing. My objective is to ensure that they continue with their studies without any interruption concerning school fees. I believe once they excel, they will bring a change to my household. I am also planning to save some money every month to enable me to renovate my house which is in a bad condition. I began saving some years back before GiveDirectly's transfers, and I am hoping to save more to achieve this goal. I am aiming at replacing the roof with new iron sheets since its dilapidated and rebuilding the walls with stones to be a permanent house."

"My goal is to start a business of vending vegetables and fruits to earn an income. I have been saving part of the money in our local merry-go-round since last year, for the purpose of starting a small business that will generate some income. I have five children who all look to me for their basic needs like food and school fees. I used to sell charcoal for a living but currently, drought has hit us badly, and I do not have any income to rely on. Starting this business will ease the burden of buying food and paying fees through the profit that I will be earning."

"I have been suffering from ulcers for almost five years now. I depended on my two sons who were paying for my medical expenses but it was not easy for them since they have their own families to look after. Ever since I started receiving the monthly transfer, I have been able to cater for the medical expenses on my own, buying the medicines every month and going for check-ups. Being able to cater for my medical expenses was a big relief to my sons, and I am planning to spend any surplus to buy more goats to keep on my homestead, I currently own 7 goats."

"I am currently operating a food kiosk in my village which has been my only source of livelihood. I have been able to restock it every month I receive a transfer which has greatly improved my profits. I am able to effectively take care of my family's basic needs like buying food daily through this business. My dream is to expand this business to a bigger one that can serve a bigger clientele. I will be able to save more as profits increase. I am also planning to buy goats and chickens to add to my livestock. I currently have three goats in my compound, and I am hoping to add more through the money. My expectation is to have as assets that I can readily rely on in case of a financial need such as boosting my food kiosk business."

""I used to work in Mombasa, but I moved back home after losing my job. My wife and I do not have a steady source of income. We work on our small piece of land every day, cutting firewood and burning charcoal for sale. I was extremely happy to receive this transfer because I knew I could do amazing things with it. Thank you to Give Directly for making this possible. I had planned to build rental houses because they would provide income for a longer period, even after I die. You know that investing in houses is a long-term investment; it cannot die like a cow, so I will be able to see my investment on a daily basis. So I spent $179 on 15 iron sheets, each at $12, $30 on three types of nails, $45 on seven bags of cement, and $125 on the labor force for the two rental houses. I am relieved that the houses are fully completed; all that remains is for tenants to occupy them so that I can begin earning money on a monthly basis. This way, I won't run out of money. I also intend to use the rental income to construct my own home in the village. I had also purchased some land but had not fully paid for it; I had a $100 balance, which I cleared with this transfer. Thank you to GiveDirectly for enabling me to build my houses on this land. Unfortunately, my uncle passed on, and I had to pay $35 in funeral expenses. I spent the remainder of the transfer on a bale of maize flour, a bucket of soap, and beans. Thank you so much for making the last few weeks so much easier.""