"My old age cannot allow me to work on casual jobs to earn a living. I am depending on the mercies of my children to put food on the table. Unfortunately, I was unable to cultivate my farm last season due to financial challenges, this has exposed me to the food crisis in the family. It is sad that I am elderly and I need to take a balanced diet food but this is completely opposite. At times I skip meals because of lack of money."

"I am elderly and this makes it difficult for me to work casually and earn a living. I am therefore struggling financially to provide for my family and pay school fees for my daughter Doris who is in Mosoriot training college. Due to financial challenges, we are constantly experiencing a food shortage in the family. We are forced to skip meals or use less preferred food like porridge during lunch hour."

"It is not easy to secure a Job in our area, the recent flash floods made it even difficult. The farms which provided us with casual jobs were swept away. I am struggling financially to provide for my family of six. My son Zakayo joined Marigat secondary school in January this year. He made me proud and happy, on the other hand, it made me struggle financially since I don't have any stable source income to pay for the school fees. Putting food on the table has never been an easy task for me."

"I have always dreamed of having a stable source of income so that, even when the program comes to an end, I can meet my basic needs without struggling. To achieve this, I decided to venture into a second-hand clothing selling business that my son has, pooling funds with my son to promote its growth and stability. My current goal is to expand this business and generate more income from it. With this venture, I hope to move away from engaging in casual jobs like fetching and selling firewood and burning charcoal, which are very tiring and put our health at risk, yet they don’t pay well. To ensure the business grows, I plan to continue investing a portion of my transfers into it, creating a sustainable source of income that will help support my family. I am optimistic that this business will thrive and grow, enabling us to sustain ourselves and provide an education for our children."

"I have always had a plan to become a livestock farmer and create wealth through livestock. My intention was to use my transfers to buy goats, but circumstances have changed due to the drought. The rains did not come, and all our efforts on the farms dried up under the scorching sun and very strong winds, leaving us with nothing to harvest. We are now faced with hunger, and almost every cent that I receive goes towards buying food. My current plan is to keep using a portion of my transfers to buy food to sustain my family and ensure we don't go hungry. Until the rains come and we get some good harvests and have food security, I will then divert my transfers to buy goats, hoping they will multiply and increase in number. I then plan to trade them for female cows, which will also multiply. In the future, I will sell some of these cows to take care of my family and fund my children's education. I am determined to stick to my long-term goal of becoming a successful livestock farmer, but for now, my priority is to ensure my family's immediate needs are met by providing food during this difficult time. I remain hopeful that the rain will come soon, allowing me to resume my plans to invest in livestock and create a sustainable source of income for my family."

"My goal has always been to become a successful livestock farmer and create wealth through my livestock. To achieve this, I plan to use a portion of my transfers to buy more ducks, hoping they will multiply and increase in number and value. This will enable me to sell them in the future and use the proceeds to purchase goats. I have faith that these goats will also multiply and grow in value. My intention is to use some of the goats to support my grandchildren's education in the future, ensuring they have the resources they need to succeed. Additionally, I want to build a reliable source of income that I can depend on once this project reaches its conclusion. I also plan to keep using the other portion of my transfers to support my son with his business and family affairs and ease some of the burden off his shoulders as he gets his business stable. I am committed to this journey and optimistic about the opportunities it will bring for my family."

"This year, my primary plan is to continue building my house until it is fully completed. Right now, I have been able to build the structure and i am left with roofing. I now intend to use my transfers to buy more roofing materials as well as contract some labor to complete the house. It is very important to me to have a place we can truly call home, where my family can feel safe and secure to live in. Once the house is finished, I have plans to invest in more goats. I believe that by buying goats, they will multiply and increase in both number and value over time. I hope to sell some of the goats in the future, which will provide the financial support needed for my children's education. I am committed to making these plans a reality and am hopeful that with perseverance and the support of my transfers, I will achieve my goals."

"With school-going children, my plan this year is to continue using a portion of my transfers to educate my children by paying their school fees, ensuring that they are not sent home to collect fees but stay in school and focus on their studies. I also plan to use the first batch of the pooled funds that I will receive to start a food kiosk where I will be cooking and selling food and earning some money that will help us with our daily household needs. Additionally, I will keep saving my transfers in our Merry Go Round group so that the other pooled funds that I will receive will be used to buy goats in hopes of their multiplying and increasing in number and value so that I may be able to sell them in the future and continue educating my children to higher levels. I am grateful for GiveDirectly's assistance."

"This year, I set out to buy building materials to improve my house, which is made of mud. My goal is to reinforce it with bricks and cement to make it stronger and better able to withstand the extreme weather conditions in our area. I plan to continue using my transfers to purchase materials until I can complete the reinforcement. Once this is achieved, I will be very happy, as it has been my dream all along. Thereafter, I also plan to use my transfers to buy goats, hoping they will multiply and increase in number and value. This will allow me to trade them for cows, which I need for milk and for plowing my farm. I envision these cows multiplying as well, serving as a form of insurance for my grandchildren’s education. If necessary, I could sell some of them to fund their schooling."

"With my house aging and on the verge of collapsing, I set out on a mission to gradually buy building materials for a new one-room house. I’m pleased to say that I have acquired all the necessary roofing materials, and I’m impressed with the progress I’ve made so far. My current plan is to use my transfers to purchase building poles and kick off the construction process. Once I achieve this, I will be very happy. In the future, I also plan to use my transfers to buy more goats. My hope is that they will multiply, increasing in number and value, which I can then trade for cows and bulls. These cows will provide milk for my household and the bulls help with plowing my farm. I envision that the milk cows will continue to multiply, allowing me to sell some of them later on while also supplying nutritious milk for my family."