My primary objective is to save specifically for my medication, addressing the challenges posed by my decade-long struggle with epilepsy. The nature of this condition prevents me from engaging in any work, making it essential for me to depend on monthly funds to meet both medical expenses and the associated travel costs to the hospital. The ability to afford these necessities every month has become possible only through the financial transfers I receive. Consequently, I have been able to consistently access timely treatment, ensuring that I can independently cover the costs of my medication.

I used a portion of my recent funds to purchase new clothes and cover my medical bills, which have been a significant challenge due to my epilepsy. This condition forced me to leave school, and before receiving assistance, my single mother struggled to afford my medication, resulting in delayed hospital visits and treatment. I am relieved that I no longer face difficulties accessing medical care when needed. Living with my mother, I also bear the responsibility of supporting my sibling's education, which can be challenging given our limited financial resources. I allocated $40 to assist my parent in settling my siblings' school fee arrears and purchasing food. My mother relies on subsistence farming and occasional jobs for income, making it difficult to meet all our needs. In addition to my personal expenses, I diligently save at least $5 in our local savings group, intending to invest in livestock. This investment serves as a financial buffer for emergencies, such as covering my medical expenses. I am grateful for the support that has not only alleviated my medical challenges but also contributed to fulfilling our basic household needs, including education expenses and food for my siblings.

My goal for the upcoming year and beyond is to allocate my transfers effectively towards obtaining improved medical treatment for my condition from specialized professionals. With the funds at my disposal, I will be able to cover the costs of the services provided. Additionally, I aspire to construct my own house and transition from living with my mother. This move will not only grant me independence but also ensure that I can maintain my privacy. I am extremely pleased with the positive impact the transfers have had on my life thus far.

I reside with my mother and three siblings, as my father has sadly passed away. Due to this loss, I heavily rely on my mother to fulfill our basic needs such as food, clothing, and medication. Unfortunately, I had to discontinue my schooling when I was in class three due to being diagnosed with epilepsy. Regrettably, I have yet to recover from this condition. To create a sense of financial stability, I joined a savings group consisting of twenty-four members. Each member contributes $10 per month, resulting in a collection of $240. This collective sum is then divided equally among three members of the group. In the upcoming months, when I receive my share, I plan to invest it in purchasing goats. I believe that this investment will prove beneficial in the long run, as the goats will multiply and increase in value over time. With the remaining amount of $24, I chose to allocate it towards purchasing medicinal drugs that assist in managing my condition. I am delighted to share that my current condition has significantly improved, which I attribute to the financial assistance provided by Give Directly. Though I face certain challenges, I am grateful for the support I have received, which has positively impacted my life. The assistance I have received has provided me with hope and the means to improve my circumstances.

My goal is to actively contribute to the needs of my family and support my mother. However, my epileptic condition hinders me from doing any job to raise an income. I believe that rearing livestock is the surest way I can generate money and help cover some household needs like paying school fees for my three siblings and buying my medication. In the coming years, I wish to have bought goats that will help establish substantial wealth for meeting these needs even after the transfers cease.

Born epileptic, there is nothing much I can do in terms of working to make a living and supporting my family. In fact, I could not attend school due to the regular episodes I used to experience from the condition. Together with my three younger siblings, we all depend on our mother, who relies on making charcoal and working on people's farms to feed us. The returns she gets from this activity hardly cover all the family's basic needs, especially food. So, whenever I receive the transfers, my priority is always contributing towards the purchase of food. Recently, I spent $14 on maize flour. Am glad this lessened the pressure on my mother and ensured we had regular meals to date. Also, I spent $10 to refill my monthly education, which has helped control my condition; it has been almost four weeks since I got an episode, am grateful! Lastly, I saved the remaining $10 through a women's group. I hope to accumulate enough money to buy a goat in the near future.

Last month, I acquired a goat though the cash transfers. The goal is to expand the herd to at least six goats by the end of the year, accumulate reliable wealth that I can generate money from to support my mother with household needs. I would like to relieve her from the struggles of charcoal burning to provide for us. Given my vulnerability state, sometimes I get sick and cannot handle anything to contribute to essentials like food or school fees for my four siblings. So, rearing livestock is the surest hope I have at making an income. I hope that the next cash transfer will allow me to achieve this objective.

Honestly at the time the funds were sent I felt like it was God sent especially because it was close to Christmas and I barely had funds for any celebrations. that is why I proceeded to spend KES 1,000 by purchasing four packets of wheat flour and a kilogram of sugar. I proceeded to spend KES 500 in purchasing new attire for myself because my old ones were quite worn out. Lastly I ended up spending the balance of KES 1,900 that I was left with on purchasing a goat.

We had been struggling to live each day with at least a meal a day that was hard to come by with our family of five. The receipt of the first transfer is the best thing to have happened to my family. I have since then dedicated 2000 KES whenever I receive my transfers to foodstuffs. For the past three months, I have spent 5050 KES of my transfers on foodstuffs for our family. I still live with my mother who is aged and can rarely engage in economic activities. Besides, I have 3 siblings who attend primary school, and they all depend on us. They owed the school 500 KES tuition fees which I cleared with part of the transfers. I have saved 2000 KES in a rotational savings group so that when I earn my shares I will use them to facilitate the construction of a three-room house for our family. We live in a small hut the five of us that forces us to seek a sleeping place in the neighbor's house. The bigger house will accord us enough space and privacy. I also bought a piece of iron sheets worth 850 KES that we shall use for the construction of the new house.

In my opinion, the coming of GiveDirectly has changed my life and that of my fellow villagers. After the long drought season that left us hopeless, GiveDirectly empowered us financially and helped us overcome the biting effects of hunger. We are subsistence farmers and without a good harvest, then providing food for our families was a challenge. Getting the monthly transfer from GiveDirectly has been the greatest help that came at the right time. I do not see anything that GiveDirectly does not do well.

The transfers have so far helped me to buy adequate foodstuffs for my family. It has not been easy for my single mother to provide for us adequately. She does not have a stable source of income and at times we had to skip meals. I thank GiveDirectly because we could now afford three meals a day after receiving the transfers. I also saved KES 1700 from the transfers in order to support my mother in building a new spacious house for the family. The current living house is small and cannot accommodate the whole family. I am not at peace seeing my siblings looking for shelter from neighbours every night. My plan is to help her in buying building materials every month we receive a transfer.

I was resting under the shade of a tree, together with my siblings. They lay down in agony as their stomachs growled loudly due to hunger. We spent the previous day and night eating nothing. While engulfed in thought on the next cause of action, my phone vibrated. My brother checked it out and confirmed to me I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly. I was thrilled and smiled from ear to ear. I knelt down and thank God and quickly sent my brother to withdraw the money and buy a packet of flour.

Buying food for the family using the transfers made a big difference to me. Before receiving the transfer, we would survive on one meal and sometimes sleep hungry when my mother came back without food. I am grateful that currently we have 2 meals per day and we no longer sleep as hungry as we did.

Ever since I was 3 years old, I have battled a strange illness where I often fall unconscious. I have visited different hospitals but I have never had a solution to the illness. The medicine I am given to suppress the conditions is very expensive and I cannot afford to buy them every month due to the poor financial state we are currently in. My tribulations with the illness came to a high when I was in class 3 and this forced me to drop out of school. Since then, I have stayed at home and helped my mother with light house chores (washing utensils, cooking, and washing clothes). My mother’s earnings (100 per day) from the manual jobs (fetching water for pay and selling firewood) are not enough to support the family (Mother and 5 siblings). Often we sleep on empty stomachs or survive on one meal per day when we cannot get money. Therefore, when I received my transfer of KES 1200, I spent it all on buying food. This was to avoid starvation amongst my family members.