My goal in the coming year and beyond is to build a new house for my family with the help of the money from the transfers. The current house is in a dilapidated condition, with old, rusty, and leaking iron sheets. The walls have caved in and developed huge cracks, showing visible signs of collapse. The state of the house is worrying, and I fear it may collapse at any time. Building a new home will provide safety and stability for my family. It will be a significant step towards improving our living conditions and ensuring we have a secure place to call home. To achieve this goal, I will save a portion of my transfers amount and use to purchase the building materials and also pay labor costs. I am very happy and appreciative of the financial transfers that are helping me achieve this goal and move towards living a better life, free from poverty.

To make ends meet, I run a small business cooking food for sale and selling small fish in the village. The profit I earn from this business helps me take care of the daily needs of my family, which consists of five members. My husband works as a gardener in town, but his earnings are modest and primarily go towards ensuring we have our basic needs, including food, clothing, and medical attention. This year, my daughter joined secondary school, and due to financial constraints, I was forced to take a loan of $200 to cover her school shopping and pay part of her fees so she could start school. I have been steadily repaying the loan and have so far paid $48 toward it. Additionally, I spent $20 on her school fees for this term, ensuring that her studies continue uninterrupted. Seeing my daughter in school and progressing makes me incredibly happy. To further support my family, I spent $31 on food, making sure we had enough to eat at home, so we never had to go without a meal. As a Christian, I also spent $3 as a tithe in church, strengthening my faith and trust in God. I am deeply grateful for the financial support from the transfers, which have allowed my daughter to attend secondary school without interruptions, despite our financial difficulties. The transfers have been a blessing, helping us stay afloat and continue moving forward.

In the coming months, I have two major goals I want to accomplish once I finish repaying the loan I borrowed. First, I aim to build a new house because the one we currently live in is almost collapsing, and the constant fear of being left homeless is overwhelming. My second goal is to buy bulls that will significantly help with our family activities, as I have been relying solely on my own hands, which is incredibly tiring. Achieving these goals will be a huge relief and improve our quality of life. To make this possible, I plan to use the monthly transfers I receive and my savings from the chapati business I operate. With careful planning and determination, I believe I can turn these aspirations into reality and secure a better future for my family.

My son was to start his secondary school education a few months ago, and I was stuck since I did not have the amount of money needed to fund his education. I rely on the small business of selling chapatis in the village, and the income is barely enough to cover our basic needs, let alone the school fees. Desperate and determined, I borrowed a loan from a nearby microfinance institution. Thankfully, I was granted the loan. Now, with every monthly transfer I receive from GiveDirectly, I pay $25 towards the loan. This has been a considerable financial commitment, but I am hopeful that by December I will have cleared the debt. Seeing my son in school, wearing his uniform with pride and eager to learn, fills me with immense joy and gratitude. It's a dream come true, made possible by GiveDirectly's support. Additionally, I felt a profound need to express my gratitude through faith, so I paid a tithe of around $9 to my church. It was a significant amount, but giving back to the church has always been important to me as a Christian. Another portion of the funds, around $18, went towards purchasing food supplies that have sustained my family. With these provisions, I no longer worry about our next meal, and we have enough to eat without the constant stress of making ends meet.

Operating a small business entails selling various types of fish and vegetables. My current plan involves reinvesting in the business to expand my stock, ensuring a promising income stream in the future. Additionally, I remain committed to supporting my pastor by consistently contributing to the tithe and ministry funds. The financial support I've received has been instrumental in diversifying my resources; it enabled me to acquire additional hens, cover my children's school fees, and provide food for my family. I am profoundly grateful for this assistance as it has significantly contributed to enhancing the well-being of my household.

Being a devout Christian, I faithfully allocate $3 as tithe to the church and an additional $2 to support the pastor's ministry, totaling $15 for the past three months. Additionally, I invested $29 in purchasing essentials for my son, who embarked on his secondary school journey earlier this year. His enrollment brings me immense joy and reassurance as he continues his education. During the holidays, I allocated another $29 to procure new attire for my last born, ensuring he maintains a smart and presentable appearance. Recognizing the potential for financial growth, I purchased three hens with the intention of breeding them for future sale at a profitable margin. Furthermore, I allocated $10 to replenish our food supplies, which were running low. I am deeply appreciative of the financial assistance from Give Directly, as it has undeniably enhanced the quality of my life.

I plan to expand my food stand business. I'm delighted that the cash transfers have already given my business a boost during the time I've been part of the program. However, I aim to expand it further and offer a variety of foods. Currently, I focus on basic dishes like rice, beans, 'chapatis,' and cornmeal. I would like to broaden the menu to include dishes like biryani, pilau, and others to attract more customers. I hope to invest some of the cash transfers in making this expansion possible.

In the previous three months, I allocated $20 to cover the school fees for my two children, ensuring they could continue their education without any interruptions. This was a much-needed relief for both my husband and me because the income from our jobs, his as a gardener and mine from running a small food stand in the village, was insufficient to meet all our household expenses. I also used a significant portion of the cash transfer, approximately $73, to purchase food for my family. This was particularly crucial because most of this money arrived when we hadn't yet harvested, making it a challenge to afford daily meals given our limited income. Also, as a Christian, I recognize the importance of tithing, and that's why every month, I typically set aside $3 from the cash transfers to contribute to my church. I am grateful for the cash transfers that have allowed me to contribute to the basic needs of my children and also offer to the church.

My house is not in good condition hence I have been desiring to improve it. At the end of this year, my new goal is to save my transfers to improve it. Its iron roof is old and in a pathetic condition. Unfortunately, when it rains, it leaks thus causing inconvenience to the family. Secondly, since it is mud-walled, one side of the wall fell, and I have temporarily made it. I desire to make it better than it is now. I believe I shall succeed in this.

For the past four months, I have been using my transfers to buy food and pay school fees for my four school-going children. I have a family of eight members. Because I am an ardent believer, I always pay my tithe. Due to the rise in food prices, life has been hard, and whenever I get my transfers, I always spend $10 on a merry-go-round. I use $10 to pay school fees for my two children in Primary school, Tumaini, and Emmanuel. I used the rest to buy food to supplement my household's nutritional needs. I am so grateful to GiveDirectly because I have been experiencing positive change in my way of life.

Life is really difficult and we almost lost interest in living but thanks to GiveDirectly for restoring hope in our lives. I have always dreamt of having my own hotel where I will easily prepare meals and sell them to my customers. Ever since I was a child I have had interest in making food and everyone who tasted my food will really appreciate me for the tasty food. At times, during events in my community, they easily call me and ask me to help them in cooking food like chapati and beef stew that they will feast on and at times they pay me and at times they appreciate me with words of mouth. With all those events that have happened in my life, I came to the conclusion that indeed I have skills and I can utilize them by opening my own hotel. I am planning to save enough so that by the end of this year I will be somewhere in my hotel opening. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for it all.

I am a blessed mother of six children. Four of my children are in school and two of them have completed their studies and are waiting to join college. My husband has no stable job and he moves to and fro in search of a stable job, he currently helps in carrying goods on his shoulder that awaits to be transported. I work as a cook in a nearby primary school. I used to have a good job before but when COVID struck our nation I was among the employees who were laid off and since then I could not secure a good job. The current one I get paid weekly and I get $10 that is not even enough to take my children to better schools. The moment I received my transfers, I went and stocked food with my family that normally lasts for two weeks and after that we eagerly wait for the next transfers because we are not when next will get food. I spent $20 on food and also $3 I ensured I paid my tithe to my creator because it is Him that enabled me to get such an amazing opportunity. The remaining amount of $10 I was able to at least pay for one of my child's fees and ensured he was not sent out of school.

The support program has enabled most of us who lost jobs and businesses through Corona virus to come back on our feet. The funds provided on a monthly basis have helped me support my children in paying their school fees and hope to revive back my business.

I am married with six children. My husband works as a gardener in a nearby town. I have been supporting my husband through my business of catering until the entire world faced the corona virus, which left me unemployed and dependent on my husband. Our biggest challenge as a family is paying school fees for my children, especially the ones in secondary school. After receiving my funds, I am a Christian and one thing I do is give $3 as my 10% tithe. The bigger share of the funds, which is $20, was spent on buying food for my family and the other $7 was what I paid as school fees for my children. It thrilled me with the way the funds came at the right time because it was one of the toughest when my husband had not received his weekly wage and neither did I have any source of income.

I was so overwhelmed with happiness when I noticed that the money came in that evening especially because I had already set my mind that I was sleeping hungry that night because I had no money and no food, but luckily GiveDirectly came through for me at the right time and I honestly felt like God heard my prayers that day.

Nutrition is definitely the thing I appreciate most this time around, especially because I had already gone to bed hungry the previous night and I was also about to sleep on empty stomach again were it not for organization sending me the transfers. I am definitely grateful for the generosity.

Drought has taken quite a toll on us back in the village and affected us in the most negative way since most of us relied on what we made from the farm to feed our families. Therefore since there was barely any food in the house, when I receive the money from the Organization I went on to buy five packets of maize flour for KES 785 and a kilogram of sugar for KES 60. I decided to leave about KES 300 in my savings account in case of an emergency and then paid KES 55 for my son in school since it was needed for examination fee.