My husband is a hawker in Mombasa who makes and sells soap to his clients. Sometimes he makes profit and at times he sells nothing. I want to start my own business where I can sell vegetables and at least make a huge profit and help my husband out in meeting our day to day expenses. I am confident that I will generate a profit of at least $2 so that I will be able to save enough money. People are barely making it through this drought and some are dying because of lack of anything to eat and drink. I will also want to at least help out in curbing the hunger issue by selling to my locals at afford prices.

I am a mother of 5 children and the moment I received my transfers, I went and bought school uniform for my children. I spent $15 on uniforms for my 3 children, the remaining 2 children I had budgeted and bought for them uniform with the transfers I received last November. I paid their tuition with $15 and with the remaining $ 4 I bought food for my entire family. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for it all. My entire family depends on the money I receive from GiveDirectly because my spouse does not have a steady source of income.

The coming of GiveDirectly to our village was like a godsend. Many lives are gradually transforming courtesy of GiveDirectly’s monthly transfers. Being converged into merry-go-round groups and advising us on how to spend the money have brought unity and peaceful co-existence in the village. I have, however, not seen any area of weakness and still thank GiveDirectly for considering me for their cash transfer program.

I am a mother of five working as a subsistence farmer for survival. I also raise cattle while my husband is a hawker. My husband is the sole breadwinner of the family and also the one who pays school fees for our five kids. I received the transfer when I had no money to buy food or take my son who was feeling unwell to the hospital. I spent my transfers to buy food worth KES 650, pay for my son's medication, and buy a sheep worth KES 2000 for investment. Taking my son to the hospital on time enabled him to get proper medical care making him regain good health. Besides, we also enjoyed balanced diets through the foods I bought using the transfers that helped improve our health. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for the timely financial support.

I was out running the usual household chores when my son came running holding the phone. Upon checking it, there was a message notification and since I do not know how to read it, he opened the message. From the smile on his face, I could tell that it was good news. That was when he informed me that I had received the cash transfer. It was such a happy moment, and I was so delighted.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the joy of having been able to rescue my child’s life. The money was of great help because he was unwell and his condition kept worsening, but we had no money for his medication. I had called my spouse who promised to send us some money in case he was lucky but it seems luck was not on his side. He has a small business in town but it does not do well of late and thus we strain to meet our household needs. I am so grateful for the support because I am not sure how the condition would have been had it not been for the money.

Due to the prolonged drought, we have not been getting adequate harvests to sustain us. In most cases, we budget for foodstuff for the better part of the year which has been a challenge due to our low income. My spouse hawks utensils in Mombasa town but the much he makes can not sustain our family of ten. We thank God that GiveDirectly came to our rescue. With the first transfer, I bought foodstuffs for the family worth KES 950 because we had run out of food. KES 200 I spent in the hospital for my son's medication who was unwell at that time.