After enduring significant damage from last year's heavy rains, I initiated repairs on my house. However, the renovations are still ongoing, prompting me to allocate this month's transfers towards continuing the restoration work. It is essential to me that my house is brought to optimal condition, ensuring its safety and habitability. I am immensely grateful for the financial assistance provided through these transfers, which has been instrumental in facilitating these repairs.

Last year, heavy rains wreaked havoc on my home, causing extensive damage from flooding. The deluge washed away the mud walls and weakened the structural integrity of the support poles, resulting in the house tilting dangerously to one side, rendering it uninhabitable and susceptible to collapse. I allocated $34 towards the necessary repairs, which have significantly enhanced the safety and stability of the structure. Additionally, $68 was spent on essential food supplies. Given my limited income from sporadic employment, financial struggles are a constant challenge, although my son occasionally lends a hand during difficult times. The support provided by Give Directly transfers has been instrumental in ensuring our family's sustenance through food procurement, for which I am profoundly grateful.

Given my age, I am looking ahead to a time when I won't be able to engage in typical casual labor. To ensure my financial security in the face of potential challenges, I am determined to keep investing in livestock. I presently have six goats, all of which I acquired through the transfers. I intend to raise them and take advantage of their breeding to sell offspring, generating income that I can then reinvest in other profitable ventures, such as starting a second-hand clothing business. Owning these goats also provides me with a safety net for managing my financial responsibilities, even when obtaining casual employment becomes increasingly difficult. Whether it's to cover unforeseen expenses or ensure a steady income stream, these goats serve as a valuable asset that I can readily turn to in times of need.

For many years, I have depended primarily on subsistence farming for food supply, which was often unpredictable. I am grateful for the support I received from GiveDirectly, which allowed me to spend $80 on purchasing maize flour and other essential food items to sustain my family. Thanks to GiveDirectly, my family can now enjoy three meals a day. Also, I used to work on other people's farms and take on various casual jobs to make ends meet. Despite my hard work, I couldn't afford to invest in livestock as a safety net for financial emergencies. I am pleased that enrolling in this program enabled me to save some money each month, and I used these savings to purchase goats. With the recent transfer I received, I bought an additional goat for $32 and added it to my existing goat shed. I now own six goats, and my goal is to generate income through their reproduction. As I've grown older, I no longer engage in casual labor, and I believe that owning goats is the most valuable investment I can have. Furthermore, I used $19 from the recent transfer to cover my grandson's medical expenses when he fell ill and had to be admitted. His father was unable to provide support, so I stepped in to ensure he received proper treatment and necessary medication. Thankfully, he was treated well, and we were able to settle the medical bills.

As the sole provider in my household, I rely on casual jobs to support my wife. Additionally, I have the responsibility of providing for my 12 grandchildren, whose parents lack reliable sources of income. It is crucial for me to find sustainable solutions to alleviate the hardship we face. Therefore, my goal is to continue purchasing goats using the upcoming cash transfers. By doing so, I can ensure that when the transfer ceases, I will have the means to generate funds for my family's needs. Rearing livestock, particularly goats seems to be the most viable option in my area, providing a stable source of income and helping to improve the situation in my household.

The casual jobs I rely on for sustenance hardly return enough money to cover food costs in my house. I believe that keeping livestock will establish a reliable income stream in the future to supplement the little earnings I make. For this reason, I decided to secure a goat worth $25 using the funds from the recent transfer. When the goat multiplies and grows the herd, it will serve as a valuable asset and source of funds for my family’s needs. In my household, we faced a severe food shortage, with no means to acquire more. Fortunately, with contributions from my wife and child, we were able to purchase food that has sustained us until now. However, we have had to skip lunches and limit our food intake to save and make it last. It has been challenging to ensure that we eat enough.

I am well advance in years but my family still depnds on me. food seems to be our biggerst challenge and Givedirectly transfers have made it easy to have an assuarance of a meal for the time that we will recieve the money hence I hope to provide food for my family as I continue to receive this money. I am also working towards adding to my animals as I have bought sheep and ducks. I get the sheep at $26 and the ducks at $10 for a full grown duck. I want to have a good number which will ensure a source of income since age comes with disease so that I an always afford treatment in case I become sick.

Food has been our biggest challenge. The drought has taken a toll on myself and even my family as a whole. My main aim on a monthly basis is buy food enough for my family. I do casual jobs that pay between $25 to $30 which range from farm work to constriction jobs. I am the sole breadwinner of my family as my sons do not have a source of income as at now and my wife is too old to be engaging in causal labour. I have 8 grandchildren whose needs are also part of the things I am expected to take care of. I used portions of my money on food for the family which is 15 people and also started buying sheep at $26 which I hope to accumulate as my retirement plan. I have also been able to cover school fees arrears for my grandchildren when they are sent away from school.

I count myself to be quite lucky ever since getting into this program, especially because I was struggling financially and even providing for my family was becoming quite tedious. Therefore for me this funds have been the light at the end of the tunnel because now they're giving me an opportunity to ensure that my future and that of my family is well catered for.

I was so excited when I realized the arrival of the transfers and this is because ever since I got enrolled the funds have been quite a great help to me financially. This being my second transfer, I decided that I was going to invest more in growing my farm by buying some animals. Therefore, I went ahead and spent KES 2,500 on purchasing a sheep. I was left with a balance of KES 500 which I left in my savings account.

My phone rang with a message notification around 4 p.m. when I was relaxing at home. When I read the message, I confirmed to have received my first cash transfer from Give Directly. At the same time, I heard my neighbors celebrating and rejoicing over the receipt of their funds as well. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the money. I was so excited that I would finally get food for my family.

For the longest time, I had wished to own livestock but financial constraints always hindered me. The scant earnings I made from burning charcoal would not afford anything beyond food. So, Give Directly presented an ideal chance for me to acquire a sheep. Owning this animal marks the biggest impact I had from the transfer.

Charcoal burning is the main source of income for people in my area, including myself. Due to the over-exploitation of this practice, trees have become scarce, which makes the process of making the product harder than it was before. Nowadays, I have to dig and split tree stumps for charcoal preparation, an exercise that can consume at least two weeks. Even after waiting for that long to sell the product, the much I make is KES 500. Considering today’s high living standard, this amount barely provides two weeks’ worth of food for one person, let alone an entire family. This is why I used KES 500 from the transfer to buy food to last my household a few days as I waited to make a sale. Also, I spent the rest on a sheep. The goal is to let it multiply and sell it in the future to generate funds in case of any financial emergency, like the need to cover medical expenses.