Eight years ago, I was forced to leave my job due to a painful condition in my leg that developed into blisters and eventually led to paralysis. Despite frequent hospital visits and exhausting all my savings, my leg did not improve. Losing my job marked the beginning of a challenging period where I had to depend heavily on my relatives, close friends, and neighbors. Over time, they grew weary of supporting me and stopped helping. Fortunately, I was enrolled in the cash program by Give Directly. With this support, I quickly started a business buying and selling hens. Although the profit from this business is modest, it has allowed me to become self-reliant and no longer depend on others for my needs. I spent $34 to purchase more hens and boost my business, ensuring a steady, albeit small, income. Additionally, I allocated $15 to facilitate my monthly checkup visits to the hospital. This has been crucial in managing my health condition. At the end of February, part of my house collapsed due to heavy rains and strong winds. I spent $34 to purchase new building poles and pay a mason to repair the damage. This ensured that I had a safe and secure place to live. Lastly, I spent $19 on food, ensuring that I never go hungry. The financial support from Give Directly has been transformative, helping me live a better and more independent life. I am very happy and deeply grateful for the assistance, which has significantly improved my quality of life.

The newfound financial stability from the small business I run has brought me peace and a sound mind. I am no longer burdened with deep thoughts about how I will survive. With the support from Give Directly, I now have a clear path to self-reliance and a brighter future. My goal is to expand my business further. I plan to start selling goats, which I believe will yield a significant profit. This venture will be a step up from my current business and provide a more substantial income. Eventually, I aspire to advance and open a kiosk business, diversifying my income streams and ensuring long-term financial stability. The financial support has not only helped me regain my independence but also allowed me to dream bigger and plan for a more prosperous future. I am incredibly grateful for the transfers and the profound change they have brought to my life. Words cannot fully express my appreciation for this transformative assistance. Thank you for helping me build a better life.

Several years ago, I was employed by a company until I experienced a rare limb infection that led to my retrenchment. This condition paralyzed one of my legs, leaving me physically handicapped. Unfortunately, I am unable to walk and can no longer engage in work as I used to. Initially, I relied on my brothers for support, but their assistance is limited as they have their own families and depend on low-paying jobs. I find myself in the challenging position of supporting myself, particularly worrying about how I would survive without a steady income. Complicating matters, I am the primary caregiver for my two grandchildren, whose mother is battling mental illness. These children are also in school and depend on my assistance. Despite my predicament, financial support has been a lifeline for me, and I am immensely grateful. The monthly transfer I receive has become my sole source of hope for survival. Thankfully, I have been able to use a significant portion of it to secure food for myself and my family. Over the past few months, we have not faced challenges in terms of food scarcity. Moreover, when my house suffered damage from recent rains, I utilized $34 from the transfer to purchase building materials such as poles. With the assistance of my neighbors, we successfully renovated and stabilized my house. I am deeply appreciative of the support that has allowed me to navigate these difficult circumstances.

I am physical handicapped which prevents me from engaging in regular work. As a result, I depend solely on financial transfers for my own well-being and that of my grandchildren. My goal is to achieve financial independence by establishing a reliable source of income. To that end, I am in the initial stages of launching a poultry project, which I believe I can manage effectively. The success of this project would provide me with an opportunity to meet my financial requirements, including the regular medical expenses and educational fees for my two granddaughters. Their dependency on me is heightened as their mother grapples with mental illness, making this initiative crucial for our well-being as a family.

For some time now, one of my legs has been paralyzed due to an injury I incurred a while ago. This condition requires constant medication to manage pain and prevent further complications. Unfortunately, my disability makes it challenging to work and earn an income to support my household and cover my medical expenses. With the added burden, most of the funds I receive are used to purchase food rather than cover my medical bills. Often, I accumulate debts at the hospital, which I promise to repay once I receive my cash transfers. I am grateful that my doctors have been understanding. In this regard, I used $15 from the cash transfers to fully settle the pending balance that had accumulated over the last two months. Additionally, I invested $32 to purchase 8 chickens, marking the restart of my chicken-rearing project. I had temporarily paused this project due to a drought that made it difficult to afford chicken feeds. As chicken rearing is the only work I can manage right now due to my health condition, I am excited to get it going again. Moreover, heavy rainfall in my village over the past few months caused one of the walls of my house to collapse. To address this issue, I spent $18 on buying building poles and compensating labor for the repair work. The remaining funds were used to purchase food during a period when we had not yet harvested.

Given my paralysis in one leg, I am unable to engage in strenuous activities to generate an income. Therefore, livestock rearing remains my primary means of livelihood. My ultimate goal is to revive my livestock trading business, which was adversely affected by the drought. This drought led to the loss of vegetation and the death of some cattle and goats that I owned at that time. I aim to restart this venture as it represents my best opportunity for income generation. To achieve this, I have started by purchasing chickens, with plans to gradually expand to include goats and cows.

My most recent transfers were spent on medication and food, as well as the purchase of chickens for rearing. I was referred for eye check up, and I was able to cover a portion of the costs. Without the transfer, it might have been difficult to raise enough money for the medication. I am also relieved that I have been able to purchase foodstuffs such as a bale of maize flour for $24 every month, ensuring that we do not go hungry. Providing food has been my most difficult challenge in the household because I was previously the breadwinner, working as a driver, but an illness left me physically handicapped and unable to walk. I now rely on my wife to provide. She does casual jobs such as burning and selling charcoal, which pay very little. She can only sell once a week because it is exhausting, and she only makes $3. Knowing that I will be receiving some money every month has given me a reprieve. Despite our financial difficulties, our family is able to eat well. I'm also thinking about starting a poultry project to supplement our income, I thus bought 8 chickens. Despite my inability to walk, I will be able to manage this project, and I hope to purchase many more chickens, allow them to reproduce, and sell them. I will be in a position to assist my wife with some of the expenses, such as fees for our grandsons.

I hope to start a poultry project that will generate some income in the coming year and beyond. I've been unable to walk for the past eight years due to an illness that left me physically disabled. I was working as a driver for a company when I was laid off and had to relocate to the village due to illness. Since then, I've been on medication and relying solely on my wife, who has had to work in odd jobs like burning and selling charcoal, and she has since become the breadwinner because I no longer do any physical labor. We have four young children under our care, as well as two grandsons, whose mother is also mentally ill. Despite my condition, my greatest ambition is to one day have a poultry project that will at least generate some income and that I will be able to manage effectively on my own. I intend to purchase chickens and allow them to reproduce, which will keep me occupied rather than waiting for my wife to provide and seeing her overwhelmed by so many household needs. I can easily sell the chickens to help her meet her basic needs, such as food, as well as pay school fees for the grandchildren, who are in primary school.

I have been ill for the past seven years. I lost my job as a result of this circumstance, and for the past years, I have been stuck at home without a job. I have been reliant on my wife for support. Unfortunately, she does not work and relies on her craft business to support the family. Immediately after receiving the recent transfer, I spent $16 on my medication. Even though I can not always do any hard work, I am happy that the transfer improved my health condition. I used the remaining $18 to buy food for my five-person family. I am appreciative to GiveDirectly for the prompt financial assistance.

I have been hailing since 2017, a situation that has led to one of my legs having dysfunction. I am always unable to walk long distances. Instead, I am always more at home. My goal is to invest more in livestock with subsequent transfers. It will give me ease to engage in the livestock-selling business. Although I cannot do casual jobs, through the livestock business, I will be able to earn a small income. That is a promising business that can aid me in achieving success as I work hard to provide for my family of five. My additional goal is to build a new house. The current one has been in existence for the past 15 years.

My name is Jackson Karisa Tumo, I live in Mudzimure village in Kilifi. I am married to one wife who is the breadwinner of the family. Two years ago I got sick and my arm and leg were amputated since then my wife has been taking care of my family. I have five children, four are married and one is still at home fully dependent on us. My wife has a charcoal business whereby she prepares it every week and takes it to the market. On a good day, she makes $2. This money together with the one I receive from Givedirectly helps my family to buy food and water.

I am a disabled man that cannot walk and only stays at home. Givedirectly, is doing a great job helping people like us. Them coming to the remote areas and finding me is such a blessing

I left my job eight years working for a miller’s company in Mombasa after I developed a health complication with my leg. Often my leg swells and oozes pus on the swollen parts. I exhausted all my savings and sold all the livestock I had to seek medical attention, but I haven’t successfully treated my leg. After I lost my job, my wife became the sole breadwinner of the family, working casual jobs selling charcoal. Selling the charcoal is not all rosy, and we often put up with several days of sleeping on empty stomachs. Therefore, when I received my first transfer, I spent it all on buying food for the family. We hardly had any food in the house. We survived by eating wild fruits and insects such as grasshoppers.

The transfers made a vast difference in my life that day because I had eaten nothing for close to three days. My two grandchildren looked pale and malnourished because of a lack of food. I am grateful that the transfer helped in salvaging the hunger crisis we were in.

I was inside my house listening to the 7 pm news via my small radio. My phone rang and, upon checking, I realized I had received my first transfer. I could not believe it and called my wife, who confirmed that it was indeed true. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks as my heart melted with joy. I was thrilled, and I immediately murmured a short thanksgiving prayer to thank the lord for the miracle.