I am currently residing in a temporary and unstable shelter, but my ultimate goal is to have a permanent house. To achieve this, I plan to add the transfers I receive to my savings and use the funds to purchase necessary building materials. Specifically, I am aiming to purchase 30 iron sheets and bricks to facilitate the construction process. Not only will having a decent house improve my living standards, but it will also enhance my status and dignity. I am always worried about heavy rainfall, but having a permanent house will alleviate this challenge. My hope is to achieve this goal with the help of the monthly transfers.

I currently have six children enrolled in school, and raising their fees has been a challenge. To ensure that they stay in school without facing any disruptions, I committed the transfers towards clearing their fee arrears on time. Hence, I spent over $90 of the recent transfers to pay the fees and also did some shopping for my two children who were joining junior high school. I do not have a stable source of income that would have otherwise helped me with this, but I am happy that the transfers have been a lifeline. My prayer is to see all my children achieve their educational aspirations and advance in their academics to levels that I did not manage to reach myself. In addition to the fees, I also spent $7 on buying two chickens that I am currently keeping. I am happy to own more than ten poultry, which, upon reproducing, I can readily sell to generate some income. This will also help me raise fees for my children when I am stuck. I spent the remaining amount on buying foodstuffs for my family, which ensured that my family was well-fed and did not lack food in my household.

Having gained extensive experience in the field of livestock farming, I consider myself highly knowledgeable in this domain. Given the downturn in the market for selling livestock, I plan to utilize my monthly transfers to expand my livestock holdings. I maintain a positive outlook, anticipating a future when livestock prices will rise significantly, presenting an opportune moment for me to sell my animals and generate substantial profits. At present, my livestock inventory consists of 146 sheep and goats, along with 20 hens. My main objective revolves around augmenting this count and fostering the growth of my herd.

I make a living by acting as a middleman, selling livestock on behalf of farmers at the market. My earnings come from the difference between the selling price and the agreed amount with the owner. Unfortunately, I often don't earn much, and this has significantly affected my ability to meet my family's basic needs. The prolonged drought of the past six years has exacerbated the challenges already present in the livestock business, resulting in a further decline in my earnings. My children are particularly impacted, as they are frequently sent home due to accumulating school fee debts. Fortunately, with the transfers I received in May, I managed to partially pay $12 in school fees for my three children, allowing them to stay in school and continue their education while I work hard to clear the remaining balance of $12. Additionally, I invested $15 in purchasing three hens to add to my existing poultry birds. I consider this a future investment, as they will multiply over time, and I can sell some when needed to meet my financial requirements. To feed my family, I bought maize flour worth $7. I am extremely grateful for the financial support that has significantly improved the quality of life for my family during these challenging economic times.

In the coming year and beyond, my top priority is to provide my children with an optimal learning environment by paying their school fees on time and minimizing any disruptions. To achieve this, I plan to allocate a portion of my transfers towards their education. However, paying school fees for my seven children requires significant financial resources, and I am grateful that the monthly stipends will enable me to achieve this goal in the upcoming years.

As an intermediary, I assist individuals in selling their livestock at the market and receive a commission in return. However, the income from these transactions is insufficient to meet all of my family's needs. Therefore, in addition to earning commissions, I am also actively engaged in livestock farming. I currently own over 70 sheep and goats, as well as more than 20 hens. I believe that I will succeed in this field, which is why I use my monthly income to purchase additional livestock. When I received my April transfers, I spent $20 on purchasing four hens to increase my inventory. Livestock farming is an excellent method of wealth creation since it allows for the animals to multiply over time. I used the rest of the funds to pay school fees for my seven children who are still in school. Education is essential to me, and I want my children to receive a proper education that will prepare them for a successful future.

I make $100 monthly by selling livestock such as cows, goats, and sheep. However, my income is never enough to meet my children's educational needs. I hope to expand my current business as I continue to receive my monthly transfers. It will provide me with a consistent source of income, making it easier to support my family. For example, if I succeed in raising some of my livestock, I will potentially realize over $200 per month. Furthermore, despite having a large family, I live in a small house. I also plan to start buying materials in bits because I aim to build a spacious one.

I am a father of ten children, and I support them solely through a livestock-selling business, while my wife looks after our livestock. Because the business's performance varies, I occasionally have difficulty raising funds for their school fees. As a result, whenever I receive a transfer, I prioritize paying school fees for the seven children. I spent $34 from my most recent transfer to pay off last year's school fee arrears. Because of the current drought, a portion of the previous three months' transfers came in handy for acquiring some food. I also used some of the transfer money to purchase two hens to begin raising poultry. I previously lost all my domestic birds because the birds succumbed to the fowl virus outbreak.

I am a broker and I sell goats and cows at an open market which happens once a week. I also slaughter cows and goats at a fee of five at $30 and $20 respectively. I have eight children, five are in school and three are married. Food has been a challenge for me because every day my family consumes three packs of maize flour that costs $4.5. Receiving this transfer has helped me buy food without strain.

I am happy that the unconditional transfers from Give Directly are changing the lives of the needy people positively in my village. However, I would like to recommend that the organization increase the monthly stipend, which helps many cope with the rise of essential commodities.

I worked as a broker selling livestock for other people. The drought that began three years ago affect my business negatively. A lot of livestock died because of the harsh weather caused by the drought. The remaining livestock that survived fetched very low prices because their health conditions (thin) affected my income, too. As a result, I have failed to provide fully for my family, forcing them to sleep on empty stomachs frequently. When I received my transfer, I spent KES 1500 plus my wife’s contribution and bought a 90kg sack of maize. Buying the maize will ensure that my family will have plenty of food as I work hard to save enough money to buy them food next time. Besides buying maize, I spent the other half of KES 1500 on paying school fees for my two children who were moving to new classes.  

I was in the market looking for farmers selling their livestock. The day was not as fruitful and all I was depending on was my previous day's pay that had been delayed. My children were hungry which got my wife to keep calling to check whether I had funds to buy some food. In my panic, I got a message confirming I had received funds from give directly. I felt blessed and contented. I withdrew it, bought some food, and took it home.

My job as a livestock broker is not consistent and whenever I make a sale it's usually not promised that I will be paid the same day. There are times the pay delays for even a week. Even so, I still push myself to ensure that I work hard. The money that I am receiving from give directly will really uplift me hence create some financial stability as I will buy some livestock to rear then sell them once they are fully grown.

I work as a livestock broker where I sell them to butcher men. The money I get from this I would normally use to meet the needs of my 10 children. On this day I had not sold as and my previous day's pay had been delayed. It had now been 5 days since I had run out of food in my house and my wife kept asking for funds to buy some foodstuff. So, I used the funds to buy some nourishments.