I aim to establish my own tailoring shop where I can make and sell clothes, specializing in African wears such as vitenge and diras. While currently running a vegetable stand along the road, I aim to save from both my current business and my contribution to the merry-go-round to kickstart my dream shop.

Since last year, I have been participating in a merry-go-round where we save $20 monthly. With the recent transfer, I allocated the entire $20 to my merry-go-round savings. My ultimate goal is to save enough to launch my own tailoring shop and transform my family's life. I also recently acquired another chicken, bringing my total to two, which I purchased for $9. As a mother of two children, with one currently in school, I set aside $2 for my child's school fees to ensure he was not sent home because of school fees. The remaining $3 was used to buy food for my entire family for the week.

One of my primary goals for this year is to acquire my own sewing machine, a significant achievement on my journey toward realizing my dream of establishing my own business. I plan to fund this purchase with the savings I have diligently accumulated in my savings club. Owning a sewing machine will mark a crucial milestone in my aspirations, allowing me to generate income by sewing and selling clothes. The prospect of contributing to my family's well-being through this endeavor fills me with immense joy and motivation.

I am a trained tailor, but due to lack of equipment, I have not been able to practice my craft and earn a living from it. To make ends meet, I turned to farming and selling sardines, which has proven to be a more viable option compared to my previous work of selling charcoal. Despite the challenges I've faced, I am deeply grateful for the achievements I have made this far. With the transfers I received, I managed to save $70 in a savings club, which I plan to use to purchase a sewing machine in the near future. Additionally, I allocated $14 to buy food and essential household items as we had run out. The remaining $18 went towards purchasing clothes and shoes for my children, as their previous attire was in tatters and in poor condition. This shift in my livelihood has brought about some positive changes in our lives, and I am hopeful for a brighter future where I can fully utilize my tailoring skills to provide for my family.

My main goal is to own a sewing machine. I trained in tailoring and I felt like I wanted to put my skills to use, but I had never gotten the money to buy a machine. My plan is, therefore, to continue saving part of my monthly transfers to buy a sewing machine and rent a shop within the neighborhood so that by December, I shall have started the tailoring business t boost the income that I would be getting from the livestock project.

I have been in the project of livestock keeping; chicken goats and I plan to have cows as well. I previously started off with chicken rearing and later sold them to buy goats and I am currently happy that my project is expanding. With my recent transfers, I decided to spend some amount of $10 on adding more chicken to increase the population as I plan to continue with the cycle of buying and selling to acquire other livestock. With the remaining amount, I remitted an amount of $20.70 to my savings group to help me buy a sewing machine in the near future for my tailoring work as $4 was spent on buying clothes for my newborn baby.

I have mentioned that I was able to Join a savings group and I am saving money in the saving group as well as on my own. I learnt how to sow clothes but I do not have a machine of my own to turn this skill into a business so I am saving so I can buy a machine. My husband is also employed as a motorcycle rider which sometimes is a hard task since he does not always get business which ends up eating into his pocket as he needs to pay his employer. So we are saving so we can afford to buy a motorcycle of our own so he can be self employed which will ease our financial state.

I used to have a small business selling local dried fish but I was forced to close it as I wasn't not making enough. I had no chance of taking care of my personal finances but now it is very different. I have joined a table banking group courtesy of GD transfers. I saved $20 in December, $10 in January and $20 in February. I am also doing personal savings which have been $2, $7, $7 in January, December and February. I also have been able to buy my child and I clothes during this three months since I am expecting and most of my clothes do not fit. I bought two dresses locally known as "dera" at $600 in February and a couple of Local material known as "Leso" to use during this period. I am also now an owner of two chicken that I got at $3 each.

I am married with one child, and they employed my husband as a motorcycle rider. Daily, my husband makes a minimum of $2, which is not enough for our daily expenditure. After being enrolled in the support program, I joined a savings group, which normally takes $20 of my monthly transfers, leaving me with $10. I was optimistic and instead of using it on food; I bought sardines and started selling them. I intend to take the advantage of the tough economic season when sardines have replaced vegetables in this area.

The organization is doing quite an amazing job in my opinion especially since through the transfers it is aiding us eliminate living in complete poverty back in the village because prior to meeting GiveDirectly our financial situation was dire and drought was leading us to the brink of starvation.

I just recently enrolled to this program by the organization and this happens to be the second time I actually received the funds. Upon the arrival of the transfers, I decided to used KES 2,000 from what I had received and purchase a goat because I hoped to would eventually assist me financial in the long run after it reproduces since I could always sell. After selling I hope to start saving some of then money so that I could eventually open up a business. Then I went on to use the balance of KES 1,000 I was left with and used KES 550 and bought some clothes then as for what was left I used it for buy myself airtime for my phone and pay fees for charging my phone since I did not have electricity in my home.

It was very early in the morning and I was still in my bed when I had a message notification. I was just struggling to get out of bed though I was feeling extremely weak. However, when I reached out to my phone and checked the message, I was shocked to learn that it was my first transfer. Surprisingly, I regained strength and rose up from bed at once. Being moved with excitement, I took some time to make a thanksgiving prayer because that was indeed a lucky moment for me. Later on, in the course of the day, I opted to invest the transfer in poultry farming. Thanks to GiveDirectly for its kind support.

From the time I received my first transfer, there has indeed been a noticeable change in my life. Throughout, my lifetime, I had never raised even a chicken. I am glad that currently, I own two chickens. In addition, I also have a new pair of shoes. The ones I previously had were very old and unpresentable hence I was always ashamed to use them. As a result of the transfer, my life is made better.

My main source of livelihood is charcoal burning. This is laborious that drains my energy yet its proceeds are very low to comfortably support my growing family. As a result, I more often struggle even to buy my own dress due to low proceeds from the charcoal sales. With the first transfer, I opted to spend KES 800 on buying two chickens. It is delighting to me that what I had just been dreaming and hoping to start has finally begun Fro the chicken, I am looking forward to venturing into poultry farming. From this venture, I shall be able to raise some money when urgently in need without necessarily relying on charcoal burning. Since chicken always has an open market, with the expansion of my poultry farming, raising fees for my children will be seasoned.