I work as a fish monger, often selling fish both by hawking around and from home. Hawking can be challenging under the hot sun, and it's tiring. I have a plan to open a shop where I can sell essentials like flour, sugar, and cooking oil to my neighbors. This would provide a more stable and less physically demanding way to earn a living. To start this new venture, I intend to save from my transfers once I have fully settled my children's school fees. Additionally, I will use savings from my current fish-selling business. I estimate needing around $400 to get the shop up and running. This opportunity represents a significant step towards a more sustainable livelihood, offering me the chance to provide a wider range of products to my community while also reducing the physical strain of hawking fish. I am hopeful that with careful planning and hard work, I can successfully establish and grow this new business venture.

I am a proud mother of five children, two of whom are currently in high school. Ensuring their education remains uninterrupted is my top priority. I spent $102 from my transfers to cover their school fees, ensuring they stay in school and don't miss any important syllabus. Seeing my children pursue their studies fills me with immense joy because I know that education will significantly improve their lives. In addition to selling fish to support my family, I allocate part of my income to clear any outstanding school fees and purchase uniforms for them so that they won't lack any essentials for their studies. I firmly believe that education will open doors of opportunity for my children, and I am dedicated to providing them with the best possible chance in life. Although I did not have the opportunity to attend school myself, I am determined that my children will not face the same obstacles. Their education is my priority, and I will continue to work hard to support their academic journey and ensure a brighter future for them.

Recognizing the importance of strategic investment and seeking additional sources of income, I've decided to invest in purchasing a dairy cow. By selling milk, I aim to generate additional funds to support my family's needs. To realize this goal, I've joined a savings group, where I contribute regularly. This disciplined saving approach will enable me to accumulate sufficient funds by the end of the year to purchase the cow. I'm deeply appreciative of the financial support provided by Give Directly, as it has significantly contributed to improving my life and providing opportunities for sustainable income generation.

It's been challenging for my family of six since my husband, the primary earner as a palm wine tapper, has faced declining income due to the drought's impact on palm tree productivity. However, with the financial support from the transfers, I seized the opportunity to start a small fish-selling business. Despite its modest returns, it has been instrumental in meeting our family's essential needs, particularly in paying school fees and buying food. Allocating $54 towards school fees ensured that all four of my children, two in secondary and two in primary school, could continue their education without interruption. Additionally, I invested $25 in purchasing a goat, recognizing its potential as a valuable asset due to its reproductive capacity. Finally, I allocated $23 to purchase maize flour to sustain our family's food supply. I'm immensely grateful for the financial assistance from the transfers, as it has profoundly impacted our family's well-being. With my children's education uninterrupted and our essential needs met, I feel empowered to navigate the challenges we face more effectively.

My goal is to further invest in livestock rearing. From previous cash transfers, I have acquired three goats. Ultimately, I aspire to own a dairy cow, whose milk can contribute to my family's consumption and generate income when sold. While I cannot currently estimate the cost of a cow, I plan to continue accumulating livestock like goats until I have enough to exchange for a cow in the future. I am optimistic that the cash transfers will enable me to expand my goat herd and work towards my long-term livestock-rearing goals.

My husband, who works as a palm wine tapper, is our family's sole provider, and his earnings are often insufficient to meet our daily needs such as food and school fees for our five children. The cash transfers have played a crucial role in better meeting some of these essential needs. I allocated $34 to clear pending school fees for my child who was completing their final year of secondary school. This was necessary for their release from school, and the cash transfers proved to be invaluable. Additionally, I spent $34 to purchase a goat. Given the absence of a reliable income source to supplement my husband's earnings, investing in livestock appears to be the most promising option. Rearing livestock not only builds wealth that can support my children's education in the future but also serves as a lasting reminder of the impact of cash transfers. Furthermore, during the ongoing short rain season, I invested $34 to have two acres of my land plowed and planted with maize crops, which are now thriving and in the weeding stage.

I have a future goal of acquiring a cow. This aspiration is driven by the understanding that such investment not only serves as a sign of the positive impact brought about by the cash transfers but also contributes to building wealth for my future. At present, I already own two goats that I obtained through previous transfers. I have a genuine affection for owning livestock because they offer assistance during times of necessity. For instance, I could opt to sell these animals to generate funds for covering the school fees of my five children. Am confident that owning livestock would lift a significant part of the burdens my husband and I go through to provide for our children through casual jobs.

To support the needs of our five children, my husband takes on casual work involving harvesting palm wine, while I contribute by making and selling donuts. The little we make from our combined efforts is not always enough to make ends meet and provide for our family's necessities. So, cash transfers have played an instrumental part in meeting some of these needs like school fees for our children and food. Upon receiving the funds, I immediately allocated $30 to clear the accumulated school fees for my high school son. There was a worrisome debt that had built up over the term, and I was concerned it could jeopardize my child's education. Fortunately, settling the debt ensured my child's uninterrupted attendance at school, allowing him to continue his studies without disruption. With the remaining $4, I prioritized purchasing more food. The household had depleted its maize flour supply the previous day, so replenishing our food stock was essential to ensure that our family had something to eat that day.

For the past five years, the sale of coconuts has been my primary source of income. Income from this business has assisted in purchasing food for the family as well as paying school fees for my school-aged children. Unfortunately, due to seasonal changes, there are currently no coconuts, so I have been unable to raise funds to support my family. As a result, my daughter was sent home, but supporting her proved difficult. When I got my transfer, I used it all to pay her fees, and am glad she is getting enough time in school.

I am the main breadwinner of my family (husband and 3 children). I run a small business selling vegetables in the market. The high cost of fuel and increase in prices of vegetable has contributed to the drop in profit margins I am currently earning. My husband earns a living selling pal wine in the village. His business became unprofitable because of the drop in the quantity of palm wine from the coconut affected by the prolonged drought. We both are struggling to feed our children because of our low income. This forces us to survive on one meal a day and also buy food on credit accumulating debts. They sent my 3 children to hope at the start of the month due to school fees balances. They have since spent over two weeks at home missing important classes. Therefore, when I received my transfer, I spent KES 1000 to clear the debt, and then went back to school to continue with my studies. In addition, I spent KES 2000 buying chickens. This will act as a proper investment for the future when they multiply and also as an alternative source of income when I sell some.

I take the transfers as an opportunity for personal financial growth. Although food provision is a priority, my current intention is to save enough money from the program, as initial capital for a kiosk I plan to establish. Therefore, I committed 5,000 KES from the recent three transfers towards that track. Earlier this year, my children had pending school fee arrears and I paid 2,000 KES to clear the balance so that they could study without interruptions. Lastly, to guarantee a daily supply of meals to the family, I purchased foodstuffs worth 2,000 KES.

My daughter who is in secondary school owed the school KES 3000, and she could not be allowed to sit for her end term examinations before clearing the fee arrears. I, therefore cleared the fee with the third transfer. I am so grateful to Give Directly for the support. Had it not for the money it would have been a real struggle to raise the fees. The business I have does not pay that much, all that I get from it can barely meet my family's whole day's meal.

Through this program I can afford to put some money aside and even dream of changing professions because before that I had responsibilities and transporting palm wine to different areas was tiresome but I had to do it because my children depend on me. But this money has given me hope that eventually I could start my business and not get so exhausted.

After I received the money the first I did is I took KES 2,000 and put it in my savings account because I had the intentions to start my own business soon and I knew if I had easy access to the money then I would get tempted to use it and that would ruin any future plans that I had in mind. As for the remaining balance which was KES 1,000 and used it to pay school fees for five of my children in school since they had debts and I did not want them to get sent home and miss out on their studies.

The message came in quite early in the day and I was very excited because it meant my son could finally go back to school, because it was really stressing me out to see him back home while knowing that studies were carrying own without him.

I have quite a large family made up of eight members. Personally I help transport and sell palm wine so that I could take care of my family and at times the funds are not sufficient to take care of all our needs, so with the money I received I managed to add on to it and make sure my sons education continues.

At the time the money was sent I had pending balances in school tuition for my children, but since most of them their balances were manageable and still in school I paid for my eldest child who is my son since he had been sent back home for a couple of days due to a balance of KES 7000. So I took the KES 1200 that I had received and borrowed KES 3000 from a savings group I am involved in and used the money to pay for my sons tuition leaving a balance of KES 2800 so that he could at least afford to go back to school.