As a student responsible for covering my own school fees through transfers, my immediate focus is on settling my current year's fee arrears, which stand at a manageable $40. Once this financial obligation is met, my next objective is to embark on saving towards the construction of my own house. To facilitate this goal, I plan to allocate $20 of my transfers towards purchasing iron sheets, an essential material for the construction process. The remaining portion of the transfers will be allocated to address recurrent needs such as food and other necessities. The desire for a place to call my own is motivated by the current discomfort of residing at my uncle's house. Owning a house will not only provide me with a sense of independence and privacy but also offer a comfortable and secure living environment. By prioritizing the clearance of my fee arrears and diligently saving towards homeownership, I aim to realize my aspiration of owning a house and achieving greater stability and autonomy in my living arrangements.

As a high school student, I face the challenge of attending a school that is not conveniently located near my home and lacks boarding facilities for boys. To ensure my education continues uninterrupted, I rent a house near the school, utilizing a portion of my monthly transfers to cover the $4 monthly rent expense. These transfers play a crucial role in meeting my various needs while I am at school. Primarily, they contribute towards paying my school fees, a vital expense that my parents, who are low-income earners, struggle to afford. Upon receiving my transfers during school months, I allocate $25 specifically for fee payments, ensuring timely settlement of this obligation. The remaining funds are then distributed among other necessities, including food supplies and school supplies, which are essential for my academic pursuits. During school breaks, when academic expenses are temporarily alleviated, I utilize the transfers to procure personal items such as clothing and shoes. This allocation strategy allows me to balance my academic and personal needs effectively, ensuring that I can focus on my studies without compromising on essential provisions.

My plan involves utilizing the money I have already saved, along with the funds I will receive in my upcoming transfers, to purchase iron sheets. Furthermore, I intend to acquire additional building materials like timber, nails, and building poles. By doing so, I will be well-equipped to begin constructing my house and eventually move in. The financial support I have received fills me with immense joy as it plays a crucial role in helping me achieve my long-term goals.

In August of this year, I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship from a generous individual. This scholarship has been a blessing, as it enables me to continue my studies without encountering many challenges. My father, who supports our family by selling homemade soaps, often struggles financially to pay for my education as well as the schooling of my six siblings. However, with the scholarship, I can utilize my monthly transfers for other essential needs rather than solely relying on them for tuition fees. After receiving the scholarship, I had the opportunity to spend $34 on purchasing food and a couple of new clothing items. The remaining $68 was wisely saved, as I plan to use it to build my own house. Currently, I have been sharing accommodation with a relative who resides and works in Mombasa. Having my own house will be a significant achievement for me and will help fulfill one of my personal goals.

I am the first of seven children who are all school going. My father sells soap in Mombasa while my mother sells sisal mats and farms from time to time to make ends meet. Their income is not sufficient to ensure all seven on us get through school. When I was enrolled in the programs I made a decision to use the transfers to pay my school fees. My goal is to finish secondary school education and using this transfers I believe I will be able to achieve this goal in the next two years.

I am in high school, form two. I pay my school fees and since my school is far from home I rent a house and sort food needs in that house. In March I paid $20 which went to cover my school fees for term one while in may I paid $20 to cover a part of the second term school fees. I rent a house at $8 and since two of us share the house we split rent equally at $4 which I send monthly to the landlord. I use $4 from the transfers monthly to pay rent. I spent $2 in March on a shirt since I have a few clothe and I have been buying slowly to get a sufficient amount of clothes. I spent $3 to buy books. I usually spend $5 monthly on toiletries for my house. In April it was planting season I sent my parents $20 which they paid for an ox plough so that our land would be ploughed.

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.