In the coming year, I aim to purchase a solar lighting system for my home. Currently, I rely on traditional kerosene lanterns, which provide poor lighting and are costly to maintain. The solar system will provide better lighting, enabling my grandchildren to study comfortably at night and early in the morning. This upgrade will significantly improve our living conditions and reduce ongoing expenses. I am very grateful for the financial support that helps me care for my family and work towards this goal.

As the sole breadwinner for my family of four, including my ill husband and two school-age grandchildren, I face many challenges. My husband’s illness prevents him from working, and I am responsible for supporting my grandchildren's education. I paid $14 in accommodation fees for one grandson who lives near his school, and $20 in school fees for the other grandson, ensuring their education continues without interruption. I saved $20 in a savings group with plans to use it to purchase livestock later this year, which will be a valuable investment as it appreciates in value. I also spent $24 on treatment for my epileptic grandson, and I’m relieved to see his health improving. The remaining amount of $24 was used to purchase food for my family, ensuring we had enough to eat and never missed any meals. I am very appreciative of the financial support that helps me provide for my family despite not having a stable income source.

In the coming years, I aspire to transform my humble mud-wall house into a stronghold of strength and resilience. With unwavering determination, I envision erecting strong pillars and a skating base encircling my house, fortifying it against the fierce winds that occasionally strike our region. Each month, I faithfully set aside $10, a small but steadfast contribution towards my dream. By December 2024, armed with my savings, I will embark on the journey to turn this vision into reality. Through perseverance and prudent planning, I am determined to create a shelter that not only withstands the trials of nature but stands as a testament to the power of determination and the beauty of dreams.

My heart, fueled by love for my family, directs my every move, especially when it comes to spending our precious transfers from GiveDirectly. With three growing boys, two in secondary school and one in college, education stands as our beacon of hope for a brighter future. Every dollar allocated towards their school fees feels like an investment in their dreams, ensuring they stay in school, away from the threat of being sent home due to unpaid dues. Together with my husband, we pool our resources, and with the recent transfers, I contributed $60 towards their fees. Besides that, the foundation of our home remains vital. With our house longing for renovation, I set aside $30 in a Merry-go-round, intending to improve our living conditions. And with $12 dedicated to sustaining us through nourishing meals, I ensure my children's bellies are full, and their minds sharp for learning. Though challenges loom, from relying on my elderly husband's subsistence farming to raising our family of eight, the fire of determination burns bright within me, fueling my every action toward securing a better tomorrow for my beloved family.

My objective is to guarantee the successful education of my five children by consistently paying their fees on time. Unfortunately, I lack a steady source of income that could help with this educational responsibility. The monthly transfers have proven instrumental in maintaining their uninterrupted schooling. Despite grappling with financial challenges, witnessing my children achieve their educational aspirations remains my utmost priority.

Receiving financial support from GiveDirectly has brought immense joy to my five children, all of whom are currently enrolled in school. Two are attending high school, while three are in primary school. Managing their education would have been extremely challenging for me, given the financial difficulties my husband and I have been facing as subsistence farmers in a polygamous family. To ensure the continuous education of my children, I had been relying on government bursaries, which, unfortunately, proved to be unreliable. Despite these challenges, my children have progressed through their education levels without any disruptions. I made it a top priority to see them through their studies, and the financial support from GiveDirectly has played a crucial role in achieving this goal. Additionally, I have been able to save a portion of the money every month, accumulating $45 in savings. With this savings, I took a step further and purchased a goat. My long-term goal has always been to acquire livestock, viewing them as valuable assets that can serve as a financial safety net in times of need. At present, I am the proud owner of two goats, and I anticipate that they will reproduce, eventually forming a herd. This venture not only provides financial security but also aligns with my aspirations for a sustainable and secure future for my family.

Over the next four years, my goal is to support my grandson Robert's education. Because his father is mentally challenged and unable to work to support him, the responsibility falls on me to care for Robert and his five younger sisters. Unfortunately, my income from charcoal burning is not sufficient to cover all his expenses. This is why I rely on cash transfers as the primary source of funds to pay for Robert's education until he completes secondary school. With the recent harvests, I believe that food security won't be a concern in the coming months, which will free up funds to support the education of these children. Additionally, I plan to start acquiring goats as a means of building wealth that can be used to generate their tuition fees in the future.

After receiving the cash transfer, I used $26 to purchase four pieces of iron sheets. These sheets were used to cover a storage space I had set up for the maize produce we harvested from the three acres of land my family owns. While the four sheets were not sufficient to cover the entire space, I'm glad that I now have a functional storage area. I plan to finish the construction of the remaining part, which will require another four sheets. This newfound storage space ensures that my family has enough food in stock. I also allocated the remaining $8 to purchase additional building materials like nails to complete the construction process. I'm grateful that the cash transfers played a significant role in this, as it would have been impossible for me to afford otherwise, given my lack of a stable income. With enough food I stock now, the upcoming cash transfers will be directed toward other needs, particularly supporting the education of my grandson Robert and five other children in my family.

In the coming four years, I wish to support the education of my grandson Robert. He recently joined high school where he pays at least $50 in tuition every term and $10 in accommodation. Since his father is mentally challenged and can barely work to support him, am left with the responsibility to take care of him and his five younger sisters. Sadly, my charcoal-burning practice cannot cover all of his expenses. This makes me turn to cash transfers as the main source of funds that will pay for Robert's education until he graduates from secondary school.

Supporting the education of my grandson, Robert, is my main priority right now. His father is mentally challenged, which hinders him from actively contributing to his son's needs, let alone the needs of his younger five daughters. As the first-born male child, I am certain that Robert will be the key to changing the situation at home, and there is no better way to encourage that than by supporting his studies. To cover his expenses, I usually burn charcoal to raise the required money. However, the little income I generate can hardly keep him in school. After I received the recent funds, I spent $20 to clear his school fees for that term. Am glad this allowed him to take his end-term examinations. Next, I used the remaining $14 to buy food as the household had run out of maize flour. Am happy that the household rarely runs out of food as it used to before the cash aid program.

Investing in my children's education has been my key priority. Being a mother of seven, things have been tough on my side since I solely relied on charcoal burning which was not insufficient to cater for both education and food. Since the time I started receiving the transfer from GiveDirectly, I opted to merge the sources of income to ensure my children are not sent out of school for fees. Currently, I haven't stooped the business of burning charcoal because I combine both the transfer and the amount from charcoal sales to ensure my children acquire better education. My target is to ensure that my children are retained in school full-time for better education.

For the past two years, my husband has been battling an eye condition. Since then, I have taken on the role of providing for the family's needs. It has not been simple for me to support my family while working as a casual laborer selling charcoal. I only make a meager $2 profit on each bag of charcoal I sell. This amount is insufficient to cover my husband's medical costs, purchase food, and pay the school fees for my seven children. My favorite news was getting my December transfers. I didn't have any money set aside to buy food for the whole family during the holiday season. This gave me a significant financial boost and allowed me to celebrate with my family. I spent the $34 on six packets of maize flour, two packets of wheat flour, a liter of cooking oil, and 500 grams of tea leaves. Unlike before, when we would go two days without eating, our family now rarely skips meals. This has a significant impact, and we appreciate the organization's assistance.

I support my family financially alone.   My spouse is too ill and too elderly to work. I make a living by selling charcoal in the village. I only make a very small amount from the business per week (KES 350), which is insufficient to support my entire family (paying school fees, buying food and medication for my husband). My oldest kid, who attends secondary school, was expelled a week before I received my transfer because of unpaid tuition. He owes the school KES 20,000, which I am unable to pay due of my erratic income. I spent KES 1000 to enable him return to school and pay back some of the debt after getting my transfer. In addition, I spent KES 550 for my daughter's primary school expenses, who is in her last year. I used the leftover money to purchase further supplies of food after using up all I had in the house. I'm glad we have enough food to sustain us for more than two weeks.

Give Directly assist me in meeting the needs of my family, such as food and education. I am optimistic about the drastic transformation in my livelihood that this program will bring about over the next five years. I do not see anything wrong with the way the organization operates.

My husband is no longer able to provide for the family because his vision is impaired, preventing him from working. So I took on the task of raising funds to meet our needs by making and selling charcoal. However, the task is physically demanding and pays poorly due to the product's low market demand. As a result, some days I bring nothing home to eat, and we are forced to sleep hungry. In fact, I was starving from not eating the night before I received the transfer. Therefore, I deducted KES 1,000 to buy food. We have never lacked ever since, and I could not be happier. I also saved KES 2,000 with the intention of using half of it to reduce my son's pending KES 15,000 secondary education fee. I plan to supplement the remaining half with upcoming transfers in order to purchase a goat for rearing.

I was busy trying to work and prepare the farm in case we got lucky with the rains when my son came rushing to inform me that he heard other recipients had received their funds already. Since I can barely read so I let him assist me and after he confirmed that I too had received my share. I spent the entire day very happy and a broad smile could be seen plastered all over my face because O was glad I could finally afford a meal.

Nourishment was one of the biggest differences because as I had mentioned earlier we had not eaten for about two days and would have gone for the third day counting were it not for receiving the transfers the time I did. I am grateful because it meant a lot to me especially seeing that my children could finally have a meal. As a parent it hurts me when I fail ton do my duties and what is expected of me.

Prior to receiving the money, my children and I had actually not eaten for about two days because I had no money and there absolutely no food in the house. It was a sad situation especially since I could not do anything about it but wait. So as soon as I received the transfers I went ahead and bought a bag of maize flour which contained twelve packets for KES 1320. I then took KES 1,400 and put it away because at the time schools were closed and they would open soon. I wanted to start saving up school fees so that my son would also go back to school like the rest of the kids when the institution resumed back for learning. I was left with about KES 280 which I used to buy chicken because I wanted to begin poultry farming for commercial reasons so that we would not have to always go hungry like we have been.