I previously ventured into poultry farming, investing my transfers in chickens. Unfortunately, my venture was devastated by a coccidiosis outbreak, which resulted in the death of almost all my chicken, which was very devastating as I had never imagined that I would incur such a terrible loss. Currently, I have no poultry left, but I am eager to try something new. I want to start raising ducks because I believe they are more disease-resistant and less susceptible to many illnesses, which should help minimize losses. At the moment, I plan to use my transfers to buy food for my family since we currently have none. Once the rains come and we have a good harvest, I will use my transfers to purchase ducks, hoping they will multiply and increase in both number and value. Eventually, I plan to trade the ducks for goats. These goats will also multiply, and I hope to trade them for both male and female cows that can adapt well to the climate changes in our region. With a variety of animals, including ducks, cows, and goats, I aim to create a reliable source of support for my family, especially when this program comes to an end.

Our region has experienced a prolonged dry season, resulting in drought and hunger, as we did not harvest anything from our farms. Currently, the transfers I receive from GiveDirectly are essential for my family's survival, as I use them to buy food. I recently spent the entire $102 from my transfers to ensure that my family would not go hungry. I am committed to keeping my family healthy during this difficult time. I am very grateful for these transfers because they are vital in our lives, especially now when we face such challenges. This support provides us with hope and sustenance when we need it most.

In the coming year and beyond, I am planning to invest in a poultry business. I had already started with a good number of chickens, but unfortunately, there was a disease outbreak that killed almost all of them, leaving only six. Despite this setback, I am not giving up, and I plan to use my transfer to buy more chickens once the disease clears up. I chose this project because once they multiply and I have a good number of chickens again, I can sell them and invest in buying goats. This will enable me to support my family financially by selling some of the chickens and generating income.

When I received my most recent transfer, it was the rainy season, and people were preparing their farms for planting. I allocated $34 to cultivate one and a half acres of my land because farming is a major source of my livelihood. Additionally, I spent another $34 to invest in buying a new bed since my old one was too worn out. I added some of my personal savings to cover the total cost of $45 for the bed. Finally, with the remaining $34, I saved towards my poultry project. I plan to use this amount to buy more chickens and expand my poultry business.

Upon receiving my transfer, I made the decision to start a poultry farm. At present, I have fifteen hens, and I am eagerly anticipating their growth, with hopes of selling them at the market for a profit. I firmly believe in the success of my venture and am committed to making it thrive.

I work as a mason, and upon receiving my transfers, I immediately allocated $30 to purchase essential tools such as a hammer, square, fleet, woodcutter, and tape measure to make my work easier. Additionally, I spent $4 on transportation to acquire these tools. Unfortunately, I fell ill and required medical attention, which incurred a cost of $28 in hospital fees. During my period of illness, I was unable to work, resulting in an expenditure of $6 on food from my transfer. Currently, I am diligently working on building my dream home, which involves constructing a block house. To kickstart the project, I invested $26 in purchasing cement. Utilizing the remaining $6, I hired a motorcycle to transport the cement to my construction site, ensuring efficiency in the building process. Despite facing setbacks, I am determined to continue building my dream home and turning it into a reality.

My plan for the future is to own livestock, such as goats and cows. I am grateful that the previous cash transfers allowed me to start a poultry venture, which has grown to include at least 15 hens now. To expand my holdings, I wish to exchange the chickens for goats and the goats for cows. As the sole provider for my young family, which includes a one-year-old child, my goal is to ensure I can continue to provide for them even after the cash transfers have ceased. I believe that owning livestock is the best way to attain more financial security in the future.

I provide for my wife and child by relying on casual jobs in house construction, but these jobs can be quite scarce. There are times when I go for over two weeks without any work, which increases the hardships in my family. On better weeks, I earn around $7 per day, but this is still insufficient to cover all our household expenses, especially considering the rising cost of living. Fortunately, we recently had a food harvest from our farm, which reduced the constraints on cash transfers for food. This allowed me to allocate the cash transfers for other purposes. I first spent $34 on buying clothes for myself, including shirts and trousers. My old clothes were torn and tattered, so it was high time I upgraded my clothing. I also used $34 to continue building my mother's house, which I had started constructing a few months before. Additionally, I supported my brother by contributing $14 towards his wife's college fees. Finally, I used $20 to plow an acre of my land before planting. I am pleased that the maize crops are growing well and I hope for another fruitful harvest in a few months.

I have been spending a bulk of my transfers purchasing chicken. I now have 12 chicken since I lost two to chicken fever. I want to do poultry business as it is a lucrative business. I have been buying chicken and will continue to buy them to actualise this dream. I would like to get to a point I am earning an income fro my chicken. I also aim to clear building my mothers house. Her house was washed down during the beginning of the rain. I want her to have a more stable house and I hope to complete this sooner so she can move out of that old disheveled house.

I have been building a new house for my mother, I have used a good amount of my transfers on this project. I used $14 in April on buying cement and $18 in June on buying cement. I used $4 in April and $3 in may to buy chicken, I got 4 chicken in total. I also bought some chicken feed in may for $2. I also paid for my land to be tilled at $20. I bought some clothes since I do not have enough clothes and most of my clothe are worn out at $9. I bought food worth $16 in June and in April I spent $15 on food.

I am convinced that no matter how little work we put into our business the results will be fantastic. I put a lot of effort into saving money so that I might establish my own poultry farm. I have so far purchased seven chickens and I am confident that they will hatch, allowing me to sell them and purchase additional chicken. In order to save enough money, I will continue with my construction skills and ensure I do it perfectly.

My parents currently live in a muddy house and it is not spacious enough. The moment I heard news that heavy rains are approaching, I became so restless because I knew our house was at a bigger risk. To avoid taking risks, I decided to renovate our house and make it firm. I took $28 and bought cement that I used to rebuild our home. I have skills in house construction so I did not incur any labour cost. My parents were so happy to a point they really blessed me. Due to the persistent drought, I used the remaining amount of $6 I used to buy food for my family. I am really grateful for everything that GiveDirectly has done for my family and I.

Because our community had been suffering from famine, the entry of GiveDirectly was a blessing in our lives. It is working so well in striving to bail us from the abject poverty we have been suffering from for so long. As a result of the transfers, we have been able to buy food and start new projects that we could not do before. I consider this as one of the things that GiveDirectly does well. By giving unconditional cash transfers, we enjoy freedom on what we can spend our transfer on without any repercussions. I am glad I am a beneficiary. There is nothing that GiveDirectly does not do well.

I am the fourth born among five siblings. Unfortunately, since our father died in 2012, we have been living with our mother for the past ten years. My mother makes charcoal for a living, and I do casual work to supplement our family's needs. Getting food has been difficult because we live in a large household of twelve people. When I received my transfer, I spent $15 on groceries to supplement what my mother had purchased. In addition, I spent $10 on five chicks, allowing me to begin poultry farming. I also used $2 on a new trouser and $3 on a new shirt.

At 2 p.m. that afternoon, I was wandering through the streets of my village when I switched on my phone, which I had been charging all day. It immediately vibrated with a message notification.  I jumped with excitement upon confirming that Give Directly had sent the first transfer.   Having earned nothing that day, this money would at least provide the family with food.

Throughout the month, skipping meals at least once a day had become a habit in our house. We would skip either lunch or breakfast, or both, in order to save the small food available for supper and avoid going to bed hungry. Following the transfer, the story transformed. I'm grateful that my family has not skipped a meal since. I even ate a hearty breakfast made with yesterday's leftover corn meal, thanks to Give Directly's transfers.

Working as a mason in my neighborhood is very stressful during the drought season because of the scarcity of water, which discourages many people from building houses. As a result, jobs are scarce, and I end up working at most two days a week for KES 800 per day. Despite the fact that my four brothers and I all actively contribute to household demands, we barely earn enough money to guarantee daily meal consumption for the family of nine. In fact, the household had run out of food the night before I received the transfer. So, I spent KES 700 on food, which has lasted the family to this day. The remainder of the funds were automatically utilized to repay a debt I had received through a mobile money service that provides soft loans. I had borrowed roughly KES 400 to help pay for my brother's transportation to Mariakani to search for employment.