I have a lot of plans that I would wish to accomplish in the coming year and beyond. GiveDirectly transfers have helped me have a clear plan on how to achieve some of these goals. I would not for example have been able to go through my secondary school education journey smoothly as I have done had it not been for GiveDirectly. My first year in secondary school was tough owing to the fact that I depended entirely on my parents to pay my school fees and to meet all other needs of our family. Coming from a family of 9, and with my father relying on soap selling as a source of income, things were tough for us. After receiving GiveDirectly transfers, I have managed to pay all my school fees in time and I am no longer sent home like before. Being the first born in this family, I am very confident that our second born brother who is joining secondary school next year shall not have any problems raising school fees. This is because my father shall be able to fully concentrate on him as my mother gathers for my other siblings who are still in primary school. My plan is to continue using the money that I get every month to pay my own school fees and rent. I am very confident that I will finish my secondary education without any problems whatsoever.

I am in secondary school right now and have not yet entered the third form. My mother works as a domestic while my father sells soap in a neighboring town. There are seven of us in our family and my parents don't appear to be able to support the nine of us with the money they receive from their sources. Due to this, I ended up owing the school a significant amount in arrears. With the help of the finances, I was able to pay off the remaining $30 I owed the school, which allowed me to be permitted to take my end-of-year exams. Using some of the $38 I had, I bought new clothes to replace my old, worn-out ones and food for our family. I have not yet received the money I was expecting for this month, which I would utilize to cover my upcoming school expenses.

In my view, mastering the art of doing visitation to every household is one of the things GiveDirectly does well. It helps to create a good rapport and ensures that all deserving people from our community are enrolled in the program. As a result, they always succeed in receiving unconditional cash transfers, which helps us to meet specific needs in our lives. Furthermore, it enrolls a large number of people who are in great need of the program. As a result, many have benefitted, and the people's way of life is on a positive trajectory. So far, there is nothing GiveDirectly does not do well.

I am a secondary school student in form one. Because the school is far from home, I chose to share a small house with two classmates for $2 per month. My parents are unemployed and they struggle to feed our seven siblings, of whom I am the firstborn. I spent $10 on food immediately after receiving my latest transfer because we had gone two days without eating. I'm glad that as a result of that, we were able to regain our strength and return to school. I spent $15 on fees, while $2 went toward rent.

I was so excited when I received a confirmation message that I had received the first transfer. I am a student still with no source of income and receiving that kind of money at once was miraculous. Finally, I knew the school fee arrears would be sorted and I would get time for my studies without being sent back home for school fees frequently.

I am happy that for the first time since I joined the school two years ago, I have stayed in school for the whole of the academic term. This is a miracle I have always prayed for and am confident that my performance has improved too. GiveDirectly has relieved my father of a load of providing for eight people with the small income he earns from hawking soaps. I dedicate my transfers to my studies henceforth hoping to get a good job in the future so that I can assist my father to raise my younger siblings.

By the time I received the first transfer, I owed the school KES 1500 for my tuition which I cleared with part of it. KES 1000 I spent on school attires that I lacked and paid house rent of KES 500. The distance from our home to school is quite far and I can not commute daily. I, therefore, share a house located near our school with some of my schoolmates, and by then I had not paid my share of the rent. We rely on my father who hawks soap and the income he earns from it can not sustain the needs of the nine of us in the family. This has led him to strain and in most cases, he ends up borrowing to facilitate some of our needs. I am glad I was able to assist him with some of the responsibilities and thus he was less burdened.