I have always dreamt of being self-employed and running my own vegetable selling business to create a reliable source of income and be independent. To achieve this, I plan to save money from my various hustles and set aside some of my future transfers that I receive from GiveDirectly. Once I accumulate the necessary funds, I will be ready to start the business, and I am optimistic that with consistent efforts in saving my transfers and reinvesting the profits into the business, it will expand and eventually grow into a shop offering a variety of items that will serve our neighborhood. Additionally, I currently have 15 chicken, and I hope they will multiply, increasing in both number and value. In the future, I plan to sell some of them to buy goats. These goats will also multiply and become valuable assets that I can rely on during emergencies. My goal is that by the end of this program, I will have a solid foundation to help support myself and my family.

In our family, three of us receive transfers from GiveDirectly, and we made a commitment to support one another. To achieve this, we established a merry-go-round group where we contribute a certain amount of money to help build a house for each member. Recently, I saved $60 from my transfers in this merry-go-round, with the goal of using the pooled funds to build a house for myself, as I currently don’t have one. Additionally, I set aside another $30 to start my own vegetable-selling business. I also have some chicken at home, so I spent $6 on chicken feed to ensure they grow healthy so that in the future I may sell them and use the proceeds to buy goats that will be a valuable asset. Finally, I used the remaining $6 to buy soap and oil for personal hygiene, helping me stay clean.

I am glad that I have managed to build my poultry business, which was my initial venture. Currently, I have acquired 23 chickens, so now my focus is on taking good care of them. In the coming year and beyond, I want to invest my transfers into starting a grocery business. I got motivation from my friends who are already in this business. Since I am already employed and cannot leave my job to fully oversee this new venture, I plan to employ my sister-in-law, who is currently without a job. Having this business will provide me with additional income, enabling me to support my family and myself with greater ease.

As a family, my mother, father, and I agreed to contribute part of our monthly transfer towards building our new house. Our current house has a grass roof, is very small with only two rooms, and leaks when it rains. Therefore, we want to build a four-room house with a spacious verandah that could comfortably accommodate us. When I received my most recent transfer, I spent $60 on the new house. Additionally, I saved $30 for my future personal investment. I also spent $6 on chicken feed for my poultry project, as I keep chickens to help me in case of any financial problems. With the remaining $6, I bought new shoes to keep my feet clean and protected from germs.

I am planning to start my own poultry farm. Currently, I have six big chickens and nine small chicks. I am diligently saving enough to buy more chickens and afford their feed easily. When they multiply, I will be able to sell them and eventually invest in goats. This endeavor will lead to a better life and improve my living standards.

We sat down with my family and decided that whenever we receive our transfers, we will contribute $20 to build ourselves a better house. Joyfully, we all agreed, and I contributed $20 from my transfer, beginning our house-building process to create a more comfortable living space. The current house we have is not suitable or pleasing for the four of us. Additionally, I saved $10 for any uncertainty. With the remaining amount of $4, I bought food for my family to keep them going for the week.

I would want to build my own house. I live in my brother's house and he would want to marry soon. Without a house this would live me homeless. I want to use my transfers, the savings I am making and the iron sheets I have bought to achieve this. I am also saving money from my salary of $60 from the work I do at a local water station to see if the project can be completed by next year.

I have been spending most of my transfers in the previous months on ensuring that we have access to food. However with the rains we were able to farm food which we have now harvested and now have an abundance of food. I have been buying clothes with my transfers since most of my clothes are worn out and I was also able to buy iron sheets and chicken. I bought clothes worth $4 in July and $10 in September. I also got iron sheets in August and July at $30. In September I saved $24.

At my age, I do not have my own house, I currently operate from my brother's house, something that bothers me a lot seeing some of my age mates having their own houses. My goal was therefore to have my own house before the end of this year. I had already bought some iron sheets with part of my previous transfers and I would continue buying some and also saving a porting of the transfers so that I would commence the construction.

My area always experiences prolonged drought, but recently we had been lucky to be blessed with lots of rain and with this, we had decided to take advantage of it by engaging in farming so that whenever drought strikes again, we shall be having some food in stock. Therefore, upon receiving my transfers, I decided to spend a bigger percentage on farming; I planted maize on 2.5 hactres piece of land costing me $25 for the whole operation. With the remaining amount of $9.70, I managed to buy food for my family because the food stock that we had in store was almost depleted. And with the support, I was so grateful to GiveDirectly.

My brother has not yet started junior secondary school, and I attend a boarding secondary school. The primary source of income in our family, our father, transports cattle from the village to the marketplace at a fee. He does not make much money from it, therefore he occasionally finds it difficult to provide for all of our requirements. Our household income has increased since we joined the program, therefore I'm happy we did. I increased our household income by purchasing a $34 goat for rearing using the transfers from the previous three months. Since goats breed annually, we will have more goats as the year progresses. $34 I donated it to my mother so she could budget for our family's needs, and I saved $34 that I will use to buy the supplies I need for school and cover a portion of my tuition. I still owe the school $100, but I plan to pay it off with the monthly transfers before the year is out.

During enrollment I remember I was very excited to find out that a program was coming to help us financially back in the village. Personally I was quite happy with the idea of receiving money each month and this is because it meant that I could continue with my education without any hitches as my parents were struggling financially which led to me being kicked out if class quite frequently. Therefore as soon as I received the funds but this time around I decided to use the entire money which I was KES 3,000 to settle my debt in school fees.

From my point of view, this organisation is certainly doing a great job because through it I have managed to lessen the financial burden my parents have because I too receive funds which have enabled me to cater for some of my needs especially concerning my academics. Without GiveDirectly even enrolling to high-school would have been challenging.

I just finished elementary school back on March and as soon as the results were posted, I was required to join secondary school this month. The financial situation back home has always been difficult because I am from a humble background and my parents barely make enough money to cater for my basic needs and that of my siblings. That is why I was so happy when I got introduced to GiveDirectly and was enrolled to one of its programs I honestly considered myself lucky and it meant I could help reduce the financial burden for my parents. My parents had already helped me purchase some items useful for my enrollment into high-school but not all, so I used KES 2,500 from the transfers I received and bought a calculator, school uniform, a towel, school shoes and a mathematical timetable. Then the balance left was KES 500 which I will use as my fare to school.

Normally during the night, I would serve my elders and then head to take my meal. So, as I was about to have my dinner, I heard a message alert and upon checking, I saw that I had received funds from give directly. I was very happy. I immediately shared the news with my family and we rejoiced together. Since my friend had just asked about the money he had lent me, I started by settling the debt first.

For the longest time, my family and I have been struggling financially. Other than the challenge of getting food, I also didn't have the luxury of owning many clothes. 4 old pairs were all I had. Now that I'm receiving this money, I know I will have more. I plan to improve my life; I will start with poultry farming. Once I get 16 chickens to sell, I will then buy four goats. I will rear and once I get 10 of them to sell, I will then buy two cows. I will continue with the trend until I get four cows to sell at KES 60000 each. From its sale, I will use the funds to open a restaurant business. This will grant us some financial breakthroughs. Thereby helping put through school my two siblings and I.

I was almost sitting for my KCPE exam and there were some materials that I needed but my father, who is a pastoralist, could not afford to buy them. They cost KES 1000. Due to the urgency, I was forced to borrow from a friend. So, when I got the funds from give directly, I cleared the debt. I used the amount that remained to buy a chicken to add to the one that I had recently bought with the intention of restoring my poultry farming business after I lost all the chickens I had due to an unknown disease.