My current house is in a dilapidated condition. The roof was partly blown away by strong winds, leaving a huge opening, and the walls have become weak, bulging outward and forming large cracks. The state of the house is concerning and poses a threat to my safety. My goal in the coming year and beyond is to construct a new house. I am currently saving money in a savings group, and by the end of the year, I will have accumulated enough savings to purchase new iron sheets. After that, I will buy building poles and other necessary materials to begin constructing my new house. I am very grateful for the financial support from GiveDirectly, which is helping me work towards this important goal.

My husband, who is the primary breadwinner for our family of five, works odd jobs in constructing houses. Unfortunately, these jobs are hard to come by and pay very little, making it difficult for him to meet our daily needs. During the wet season, I practice farming, but drastic changes in the climate have made the weather unsuitable for farming. As a result, I can no longer earn a living through farming due to the lack of sufficient rainfall. To ensure that my family never lacks food, I spent $48 to purchase groceries, ensuring that we had enough to eat. Additionally, I paid $50 in school fee arrears for my three children, ensuring that they remain in school and continue their education. I am very happy and at peace knowing that, despite our financial difficulties, my children are able to attend school without any interruptions. I also purchased a hen for $4. Unfortunately, I lost all my hens to the deadly Newcastle disease. However, I am hopeful that the hen I purchased will multiply, allowing me to earn some profit in the near future by selling them in the market.I am very happy and grateful for the financial support I have received from the transfers. This assistance has been instrumental in helping me provide for my family's needs and improving our quality of life.

This coming year, I hope to begin transforming my family's life by starting the construction of a new house. Our current home is falling apart, with one side of the wall almost collapsing and the iron sheets are very old and corroded and leak whenever it rains. Together with my husband, we decided to take on this challenge with determination and clear roles. He is diligently working to gather building poles, while I have committed to buying one iron sheet each month. This plan gives us hope and a sense of purpose. Each piece of iron and every building pole will bring us one step closer to a safe and sturdy home. With this support, I am filled with hope and confidence that our dream house will soon stand tall, protecting us from the elements and giving us a stable foundation for our future.

Most of my transfers went toward paying my children's school fees. As a mother of three, with my kids in college, secondary, and junior secondary, ensuring their education is my top priority. My husband doesn't have a stable income, relying on casual jobs, so I started a charcoal-burning business to help support our family. With the recent transfers totaling $102, I used $60 from this amount to cover some of the fee arrears for my children's schooling. This payment was essential to keep them in school and help secure their future. With the remaining $42, I allocated it towards our family's daily needs. We were going through a tough period with no work for my husband, making it challenging to provide for the household. This money helped us buy foodstuff to get by. Every bit counts in these hard times, and managing these funds carefully was crucial to keep our family going. Despite the challenges, we remain hopeful and committed to ensuring our children have a better future through their education.

Last year, my house suffered severe damage due to heavy rains, leaving it in a deteriorated state. My primary objective now is to construct a new house in a different location, away from water paths, to prevent future destruction during heavy rainfall. I express deep gratitude for the financial assistance received through the transfers, which has proven instrumental in providing education for my children despite the limited income derived from both my husband's and my casual employment.

My three children were progressing to different educational levels, one to college, another to secondary school, and the youngest to junior secondary school. To facilitate their transitions, I acquired new bags, stationery, a mattress, and school uniforms at a total cost of $43. I am pleased to have achieved my goal of ensuring a smooth progression to the next stages of their education. During the festive holiday, I allocated $15 to purchase food commodities, allowing my family to cook and enjoy good meals together. Additionally, I spent $34 on new clothes for my children, enhancing their appearance and presentation during the festive season. The financial assistance from the transfers played a crucial role in meeting these essential needs for my family, and I am genuinely grateful for the support.

Our current house is deteriorating rapidly, and I'm worried that it might collapse soon, especially as the roof is almost caving in. My husband has not been able to fund the construction of a new house because he has not gotten many construction jobs lately, so his earnings are unpredictable. Moreover, with three children in primary school and two in college, financing a new house has been challenging, given the expenses for their tuition and food. Fortunately, this planting season provided us with a good maize harvest, which I'm confident will eliminate our food concerns for the next few months. I plan to use this opportunity to support the construction of a new three-room house, made of iron sheets and mud walls. I hope that the cash transfers and the income my husband earns from construction work will be sufficient to complete the house.

I have three school-going children, two in grade eight and one in sixth grade. Every time I receive the fund transfers, my priority is paying their school tuition to ensure they can continue their studies without interruption. My husband is usually their primary provider, but his income from house construction is unpredictable because there is not much demand for construction work in my village. This is why I also contribute to cover our family's expenses. Additionally, I have two sons in college who occasionally run out of pocket money, so I feel it's my responsibility as a parent to support them when I can. During this round of transfers, I used $79 to pay for my children's tuition, and I am relieved that they can continue their studies without any issues. Also, since we recently harvested maize and have enough food for the next few months, I decided to prioritize my children's education. I also purchased two hens for $10 to start a small poultry-keeping venture and accumulate wealth through livestock rearing. Additionally, I bought two pieces of iron sheets for $13, which I intend to use in building a completely new house since our current one is in poor condition.

With the long-awaited arrival of the rains, I plan to invest a portion of my transfers into farming food crops, which will provide me with ample food and supplies to sell in the market. This initial investment will also enable me to delve into the livestock industry, which has the potential to yield significant profits. My goal is to expand my current herd and sell the animals in the market, using the proceeds to attend to my personal needs. Ultimately, by the end of the year, I hope to have a substantial herd of livestock grazing on my farm, bolstering my wealth creation efforts.

At the end of March, my children in class eight and class six were sent home from school due to unpaid fees. This put me in a stressful situation since I couldn't afford to pay the arrears needed for them to return to school and sit for their end-of-term exams. As casual laborers, my husband and I earn very little from our jobs - I sell charcoal, while he constructs mud houses. After a week of my children staying at home, I received my April transfers and spent $15 to pay off the school fees arrears so they could go back to school. In addition, I spent $10 to prepare my land for agriculture since we are now receiving heavy rainfall after a long period of dry conditions. I am optimistic about the upcoming harvest, which will provide food for my family and save us money on expensive store-bought food. Finally, I spent $9 on buying food, including two packets of 2 kg maize flour, 1 kg of beans, and a half kg of sugar, which was enough for my family for a week. I am extremely grateful for the financial assistance of the monthly stipends, which have allowed us to take care of our basic needs that we couldn't meet before.

I currently have two major objectives that I want to accomplish, first, I have three children in school that I need to ensure their studies are not interrupted for lack of fees. I am planning to pay for them on time every month and ensure that they excel in their studies. Secondly, my living house is in a bad shape, the roof is old and dilapidated. I rely on my husband's little earnings from casual construction jobs, and we couldn't save enough to buy building materials to rebuild the house. I am currently planning to buy at least 1 iron sheet every month until I have enough to facilitate the renovation.

Before joining the GiveDirectly program, I faced numerous difficulties. More often, it was hectic and stressful to raise money for my children's meals and school fees since I have no regular source of income. Over the past three months, I have felt significantly less stressed than I was. Transfers have made it much easier for me to cover my children's tuition. I had also been residing in a house that was in apathetic condition. Its iron roof is old and rusty, and when it rains, we are disturbed to get a safe corner since it heavily leaks. I had been able to purchase a single iron sheet each month to replace the roof of my house. To start a family project, I spent $5 from my most recent transfer on a hen, and I am glad I have begun poultry farming. Later, I will sell them to raise cash for a goat purchase.

In my opinion GiveDirectly does very well by giving cash as a form of aid. This has given us the liberty to choose how to spend the money and everyone has been made free to spend the money in ways they think are the best for them. To me, this money has been such a relief at a time that we are facing prolonged droughts in our area.

The money came at a time that my children had been sent home for school fees. I therefore gave each one of them $3 to go clear the fee that was required. I shared another $10 among my two children as pocket money. The two children are in their tertiary level of education. The remaining $10 was used to buy food and other basic household needs for the family. I am a mother of five and I have been engaging in charcoal selling business to earn a living. My husband too works at a construction company as a casual and the amount of money that we make is hardly enough to make ends meet. I am so grateful to GiveDirectly for having me as one of the beneficiaries. It has brought so much relief at a time that we are dealing with prolonged droughts and famine within our area. It is through GiveDirectly transfers that we are able to pay school fees for our children in a much more comfortable way than we have been able to do before.

At around 8 pm while I was preparing to go to bed, I got a message notification but I did not bother to check. I thought it was a message from Safaricom because it is not common to receive messages at night. When I checked it in the morning I was excited to notice that I had received the money. It was such a joyous moment.

Having been able to pay for my children's school fees is the biggest difference in my daily life. I did not have peace for the four days they had stayed at home. I tried borrowing some money from friends to settle the arrears so that they could be allowed in school but all was in vain. I had lost of taking them back to school any time soon because nothing was coming forth despite the efforts. Without the transfers, I would not have been able to take them back to school. I owe this to GiveDirectly.

3 of my children who are in primary school had stayed home for some days as a result of being sent away due to the school fees arrears from the previous term. Therefore, I paid 600 KES to reduce the fee arrears. They still owe the school 300 KES which I know I will be able to pay soon with the next transfer. The rest of the money (550 KES) I spent on food for my family. I burn charcoal for sale as my main source of income but I earn a little from it and at that time we had nothing at all to pay the fees arrears.