My main goal in the coming year and beyond is to prioritize the education of my children. I believe that ensuring they receive a good education will provide them with a brighter future. I plan to use a portion of my transfers to pay their school fees consistently, making sure that they don’t owe any money to their school and can focus on their studies without any financial interruptions. I am deeply grateful for the financial support that is enabling me to invest in my children’s education and meet some of our family’s urgent needs. Thank you for this opportunity to improve our lives and secure a better future for my children.

For the past few years, I have been sleeping on an uncomfortable sisal twine bed, which has made it difficult for me to get good sleep. The discomfort often resulted in recurring back pains. To address this, I decided to save part of my transfers to purchase a wooden bed, which is much more comfortable. I spent a total of $68 on this new bed, and I’m very happy now that I can finally sleep in comfort. With the new bed, I won’t have to endure the back pains I used to experience, and I’m looking forward to getting better rest every night. In addition, I prioritized my eldest daughter’s education by paying her school fees. She is currently in her final year of secondary school at Mitangani Secondary School, and I’m thrilled to see her fully concentrating on her studies as the end-of-year exams approach. Seeing her in school and focused on her education gives me immense joy and hope for her future. I also purchased two kilograms of sugar and some vegetables, ensuring that we had enough food at home. This has been especially important, as my husband, the family’s primary breadwinner, sometimes struggles to meet all our needs with the low income he earns as a cook. I am very appreciative of the financial support, which has been instrumental in helping us meet our immediate needs.

Initially, I had a goal of buying goats, and I'm pleased to say that I've already acquired six goats through GiveDirectly transfers. Therefore, in the coming year and beyond, my major plan is to focus on paying school fees for my four children. Since I joined a merry-go-round where we contribute $20 monthly, my plan is to divert this money towards paying fees for my school-going children. I always prioritize their fees because I want them to have a good time so that they can concentrate on their schoolwork. The remaining amount I will spend on buying food and clothes for them to ensure they eat well and look neat. I am really grateful for this support because it has uplifted my life positively.

I have four school-going children, so when I recently received my transfers, I prioritized paying their school fees to ensure they wouldn't be sent home for fee balances hence I allocated $25 for this purpose. Additionally, I spent $22 on buying food to ensure my children wouldn't go hungry. Having enough food brings me peace of mind, knowing my children are well-fed. With the remaining amount, I decided to buy two goats worth $55. I chose goats because they multiply quickly, and I can sell them if I ever face financial difficulties, such as being unable to pay my children's school fees. Thus I am very grateful for the financial support since it has eased my financial burden.

I'm determined to ensure that my children stay in school and complete their education, investing part of the money into their school fees and requirements. Additionally, I aim to expand my livestock rearing venture, using a portion of the transfers to purchase more animals. With a constant source of income from the livestock, I hope to provide stability for my family and pave the way for a brighter tomorrow.

Thanks to GiveDirectly. With $39.5 from the monthly cash transfers, I managed to pay school fees and buy school requirements for my two children, who are currently in school. It's a blessing, as not so long ago, my spouse and I were both without jobs, and without this support, our children might have been forced to stay home due to lack of school fees. Using a portion of the transfer, I decided to purchase livestock, spending $53.5. This would be source of income when times are tough. With six goats now I feel a sense of security knowing we have something we can sell. I then spent $4 on food; thankfully, we didn't need much since we had done some farming. To top it off, I managed to save $5 from the transfer, a step towards building a more stable future. I'm grateful for the assistance from GiveDirectly; without it, we wouldn't have been able to invest in livestock, a decision that will change our lives for the better.

As I said as a subsistent farmer I do not make any financial gain from my trade, I depend on my husband. His work is also so seasonal and this means that not all times that he has cash. So my hope was to become a goat farmer because animals reproduce very fast and that means I might be able to get kid goats to sell. This will come in handy at the times when my husband is stick and we have an urgent need such as our children's school fees which one being in secondary school and the other almost finishing primary to join Junior high.

I am a small time farmer, all I harvest goes into the food we eat with my two children. I do not have any other source of income and hence I depend on my husband for finances. He is a cook in Southern Sudan. I have wanted goats for a long time but I was only able to afford buying them on receiving my transfers. I spent $35 in July, $25 in August and $35 in September to buy goats. I also paid for the education of my children at $9 from my August transfers.

I aim to improve my living standards by purchasing more chickens and utilizing their offspring to generate income. Once the chickens multiply, I will sell them and invest in goats. As the goats mature, I will sell them as well, using the profits to establish my own shop. Through this progression, my life will experience significant improvement, allowing me to cater to the needs of my neighbors and elevate my financial stability. This transformation will create a brighter and more prosperous future for my family.

My journey is fueled by love and determination to create a better life for my family. Education remains a priority, ensuring a brighter future for my children. A portion of $15 is dedicated to my children's school fees, sparking anticipation and gratitude within me. However, the persistent ache of hunger cannot be ignored, $10 will be utilized to provide nourishment, replacing empty bellies with contentment. The thought of seeing satisfaction on my children's faces fuels my empathy and unwavering resolve. In addition, I am eager to cultivate a thriving farm that sustains us. With $4, I sow seeds in my farm and envisioning abundant harvests. Each day spent tending to the soil fills me with purpose and anticipation, as perseverance becomes my guiding force. I am also planning to use the remaining amount of $5 to buy two chickens that I can invest with the two that I already have.With every step forward, fueled by these emotions, we draw closer to a brighter tomorrow and belief that a better life awaits us.

Normally, whenever the year begins, I always tend to come up with achievable goals. Therefore, at the begining of the year, I developed two main goals. The first goal was to focus on saving part of my monthly transfer and use it to pay school fees for my daughter who is in form four. Secondly, I aim to raise more livestock. Since my enrollment in the cash transfer program, I have so far bought three goats. As they increase in number, life will become less burdensome since I will be able to meet some of the family's needs with little struggles.

Immediately after I received my most recent transfer, I spent $6 on food for my family. We are staying three people in my household, and we had run out of food. Since I am a housewife, I only rely on my husband whose wages had delayed then. Secondly, since I have a daughter in Secondary school who had a school fee balance of $160, I spent $24 to reduce her fee arrears. I am glad that she has been able to focus on her studies with minimal disturbances. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for the support.

The only provider in my family is my husband. He is a cook at a local fast food joint. Since the company is not well established, he receives a meager salary that would only be enough to provide the family with one meal. We occasionally have to skip meals because we don't have enough money to buy food. My son, a first-grader, was expelled from school three days before I got my transfer because of unpaid school fees. I gave him $5 so he could return to school and continue his studies. In addition, I spent $25 on bulk food purchases. I bought 500 grams of tea leaves, 1 kg of beans, 1 kg of sugar, and 10 packets of maize flour. We knew that by buying food in bulk, we would have plenty to eat for the upcoming two weeks.

Drought has rely taken a toll on us and I can assure you before meeting GiveDirectly, most of us thought that we would perish from starvation because we could not farm since it never rained and we barely have jobs that earn as enough money so sustain our families. That is why I definitely support this program and speak for most of the population back in the village when I say that this organisation has done an awesome job and we are grateful

The funds were just recently to me, so I have not yet utilised the funds but I definitely know how I plan on spending it. First thing I plan on going is buying a goat but since most of then are some how pricey I will buy the kid since it goes for about KES 2,000 which I can afford. The whole idea I have is to invest on farm animals and let them breed then after I can always offer them to the market since they are always on demand. Afterwards I plan to use KES 700 and purchase five packets of maize flour while the remaining balance of KES 300 I will buy beans, tomatoes and a kilogram of sugar. Nutrition is a challenge from time to time that is why I will acquire these items.

I was planning on how we would take breakfast and skip lunch since I could not afford three meals a day. My phone was off and charging, not knowing GiveDirectly had some good news for me. It was until a neighbour came to me and asked whether I had received money from GiveDirectly. I hurriedly unplugged my phone and the first message was a mpesa notification informing me that I had received my first transfer. I could not hold back the joy I felt, I could now buy food and enjoy three meals with my family.

The transfer helped me to buy enough food for my family. My husband who is the breadwinner was sometimes unlucky in securing the casual jobs he does. We had to skip meals so as to save on expenditure. I am happy that when I received the transfer, food was my priority thus I bought enough that could last for some weeks. This gave me ample time to save money to help us in case another need arises.

I spent Ksh 700 of my first transfer on buying food such as maize flour for my family. I thank GiveDirectly because I can now afford three meals a day unlike before when we could stay without food. In addition to this, my son was resuming school and the uniform he wore was tattered and in bad condition. When I received the transfer, I bought a new school uniform for him to look neat like his fellow students.