I hope my produce will get good this season with the aim that it will help fundraise to first expand my business as I embark in college doing building and construction as I employ one to continue with the business.

As the main support for my family, I knew I had to make the most of the quarterly transfers from GiveDirectly. When my younger brother, who had just finished Class 8, lacked the necessary supplies to start Form 1 at Paul Katana Secondary School, I used $54 to buy everything he needed and pay his first term fees. Seeing him happy and ready for school was my greatest joy. With the remaining money, I invested in my second-hand clothes business, hoping to generate more income for our family. Additionally, $30 went into tilling 1.5 acres of land for planting, and I used $4 for fertilizer, aiming for a good harvest of 8-10 sacks of maize. This harvest will not only provide enough food for us but also free up money for further investments, securing our future.

My goal is to utilize my upcoming transfers to enhance my business, thereby expanding my customer base and increasing my income. In the coming year, I aim to enroll in college and acquire expertise in the building and construction sector, aligning with my career aspirations and long-term objectives. The support from the transfers has been invaluable, significantly improving my life, for which I am truly grateful.

Prior to participating in the Give Directly Cash program, I operated a second-hand clothing business that struggled to thrive due to insufficient funds for purchasing new stock to attract more customers. Presently, my business is flourishing, courtesy of the financial assistance received through the transfers, which has empowered me to invest in additional clothing inventory. I allocated $68 towards acquiring new stock for the business. Beyond bolstering my business, I also extended support to my younger sister by settling her school fee debt, which had led to her being sent home. I am delighted that she was able to complete her exams without any outstanding school fee balance. The transfer funds have been instrumental in sustaining my business, allowing me to generate a substantial income, for which I am truly grateful.

As the main supporter of my family, which consists of at least eight people, it is my responsibility to ensure that their basic needs are sufficiently met. To achieve this, I intend to boost my second-hand clothes business to the point where it becomes independent and self-sustaining. Currently, I use the cash transfers to buy more stock, which has been instrumental in its growth. I plan to continue reinvesting the earnings from the business back into buying more stock, which will further enhance its stability and profitability. Once my business is stable and generating consistent income, my next goal is to enroll in college and pursue a course in building and construction. This has been a long-time aspiration of mine, but financial constraints and family responsibilities have hindered me from pursuing it this year. However, with the progress I am witnessing in my business, I am confident that by the next year, it will have grown significantly, and I will be in a better position to afford college tuition.

From the most recent transfer, I spent the entire $34 to buy more stock for my second-hand clothes business to boost and expand my shop. I started this venture two years ago, but progress was slow due to limited capital. Now, thanks to the cash transfers, my business has experienced a significant transformation. The additional stock has allowed me to attract more customers and increase my profits, which has been a tremendous help in supporting my family's needs. In June, I used the whole $34 to pay for my sister’s school fees in high school. She had been sent home from school because of the outstanding debt, but with the help of the funds, I was able to settle the fees and allow her to continue her studies. I utilized the funds in May to invest in my business once again by acquiring more stock, which has proven to be a profitable decision. Honestly, the cash transfers have provided much-needed support and helped me to overcome financial challenges. I could never be more grateful.

I hope to expand my business much greatly. I have been investing my transfers in adding to the business and all the money I get from the business I pump back into the business to help it grow further. I have not been able to save in this previous months which is something I hope to change in coming months. I want to study building and construction something I could not achieve because of the great poverty in my home. I would like to use the savings I will make from the business to pay for my college fees once I have an amount enough to start out.

I have had a business selling second hand clothes since 2019. I sell clothes of different types to people in my local area but I target to sell clothes to young women as they are the biggest buyers of clothes. In January I spent the money $34 in my second hand clothes business this was also so in February, I spent $14 while the rest which was $20 went into paying school fees for my younger siblings. In March I spent my entire transfer in the business. It was very small before but this transfers have been able to help me expand my business.

In March 2021, I finished my secondary education. Despite doing well on my secondary school exams, I was unable to enroll in college right away due to my family's dire financial situation. I made the decision to use my previous transfers to start a small business selling second hand clothing. The business has been doing well, and I am eager to grow it even more by purchasing more stock. This year, my main objective is to save enough money from both my business and my monthly transfers to enroll in college and pursue my dream course in building and construction.

My younger sister is in her last year of secondary school at Kinarani. She had unpaid school fee arrears totaling $80 to the institution. My elderly parents work as subsistence farmers. They have been tracking losses for more than three years, and the meager amount of produce they get from their farms is only enough to feed the two people (Mum and Dad). Due to these hardships, I stepped in to assist my sister in finishing her secondary education and pursuing her career goal of becoming a nurse by paying for her school expenses. I used $30 of the money I received to partially settle the debt and guarantee my sister's uninterrupted education. I purchased two packets of maize flour for $2 each with the remaining $4 after paying for school expenses. The flour was crucial in keeping my family from going hungry.

When I graduated from high school in 2020, I started a small business selling blouses, skirts, dresses, and baby clothes to the villagers. It has been my primary source of income, allowing me to support my five siblings' education and put food on the table for the family. My financial obligations have weighed heavily on the business, forcing me to dip into stock funds to meet household expenses. As a result, expanding the shop has been difficult. So, the transfer presented an excellent opportunity to expand the business, and I spent the entire amount on new stock. I am grateful because my sales have drastically increased over the past week, thus increasing my income as well. 

Majority of the people in my village didn't have phones before they were enrolled in the program and that made it hard for them to communicate with people within their social circle. It was harder for them to bond with people even from their immediate families. Recently, I have discovered that people are more connected to each other and this has brought unity in the village.

Poverty taught me how to fend for myself at a early age. At 19 years of age, I started selling second hand clothes to help my parents who are peasant farmers to raise my three siblings. The business was picking up well until COVID-19 pandemic crisis when it almost collapsed. Since then, I have been doing everything possible including working as casual labourer in farms and construction sites to raise capital to sustain the business. The tough economic conditions proved me wrong as the little that I earned averaging to KES 200 per day was only enough to cater for basic needs. At times, I thought of giving up but the tough childhood that I went through because of poverty encouraged me to hold on. Barely two months before I was enrolled into the program, I got to the edge and I gave up because it got to a point where I was making loses. Being enrolled into the program was a great savior for me. My goal was to focus on reviving my business for one year of receiving the transfers and why I have been adding stock with my first two transfers. I spend the most recent transfers of KES 3000 to add more stock to my business and I'm impressed by the way it's picking up.

I was honestly and genuinely very excited and happy because I absolutely had no idea that I would receive money that day, and in the beginning as I was getting signed up to this program it had all looked like a hoax, so receiving the money was such a shock and I was amazed plus this meant that my business would keep growing.

My dream to continue investing in myself and precisely in my education seems less vague as compared to before, because through these funds I got more capital and added the stock to my business. Even the clothes I bought this time round with the money I received were different from what I normally sold and this triggered a completely new market for me and boosted my business. My goal to further my studies is looking more realistic as the days go by and I am grateful for the help and such an opportunity.

After I graduated highschool,I had plans to get myself to college in 2021 but unfortunately the financial situation in my home did not allow me. I finished highschool and I performed fairly because I missed school almost all the time because my folks struggled to make ends meet and I was barely ever in the classroom, but I struggled enough and managed to finish. Then after I could not afford to proceed with further studies, so I decided to sell my only goat that I had for KES 5,000 and started a business where I sold second hand clothes and sometimes new ones in order to save enough money and enroll myself in school. When I received the funds from GiveDirectly I went ahead to continue supporting my growing business since I had received more capital, so I bought more clothes so that I could sell and expand my business which cost me KES 1,200. On the other hand I put the profits I make into my savings account meanwhile preparing for my future.