Education is highly significant to me, given that I never had the chance to attend school myself. My primary goal this year is to ensure that my children can continue with their studies with minimal interruptions. With schools scheduled to reopen soon, I have already set aside my savings to purchase books and uniforms for them. Additionally, I plan to utilize the upcoming transfers to cover their school fees. Providing them with an education is not only a precious gift but also an investment for their future, empowering them to secure better opportunities. I am happy to witness the positive impact this program has brought to our lives.

My husband and I support our family of seven by selling charcoal and engaging in subsistence farming. Previously, providing education for our children was a significant struggle due to the insufficient income from our casual jobs. But since we began receiving transfers, I have noticed remarkable changes in our lives. Now, I can comfortably purchase food for my family and pay school fees for my children. Recognizing the importance of education, I allocated $87 to settle the school fees debt for my children. The remaining $15 was spent on purchasing a chicken which I will rear and buying other household essentials that had been depleted. I am genuinely grateful for the opportunity to transform my life and provide a better future for my family.

As we are currently in the planting season, I am hopeful for a successful harvest of the maize crops I planted. Upon harvesting, my family will have enough food for a few months. During this period, I intend to use the cash transfers to venture into livestock investment. While I previously owned a few goats, I had to sell them to finance my five children's education. Acquiring livestock will provide a sustainable source of income even after the cash transfers end. The ability to sell livestock, such as goats, will enable me to secure funds for ongoing school fees and food expenses. This strategic plan aims to mitigate financial hardships beyond the next few years when the cash transfers conclude.

To be completely honest, the primary use of cash transfers is always for the education of my five children and ensuring we have enough to eat. My daughter, who recently started secondary school, incurs boarding school expenses, and I allocate $10 monthly for her fees. Similarly, my son in eighth grade, who recently took his exams, also receives $10 monthly for his school fees. Additionally, I have three younger children in lower primary school, each requiring $6 per month for school fees. I firmly believe that investing in their education is the key to securing a brighter future for them. I am willing to sacrifice having enough food to ensure my children face no obstacles in their studies due to a lack of tuition fees. Given their father's advanced age, making it challenging for him to undertake strenuous work, the responsibility of providing for the family falls on me. Before receiving the monthly cash transfers, I usually engage in charcoal-making and selling to cover any pending fee balances for them so they do not miss their classes. The remaining $8 from the cash transfers serves as additional support for our household needs such as food and toiletries.

I hoped to start a business this year to supplement my income, but I was unable to do so. This is due to the fact that I spend a significant amount of my income on my children's schooling. I plan to fund their college education with the proceeds from my charcoal-selling business. They will secure decent employment and support me after they finish school.

I am a mother of six, married into a polygamous family, and my life has not been easy. To make a living, I sell charcoal and dig up tree stumps, which is an extremely laborious task. I am grateful for the transfers since they supplement my income and provide a much-needed break from the tedious work on the farm. Due to the hunger in my village, I spent $40 for food for my family. The remaining funds were spent on school tuition for my children,  whom I am responsible for. I am very grateful to this organisation for the help they give me.

My goal for the next year and beyond is to have livestock. I would want to buy goats with the transfers that I would be receiving knowing that in case I am faced with an emergency in the future, I would be in a position to sell them and have the money. Also, when the program comes to an end, I would want to have the livestock to act as evidence of the great help I received from GiveDirectly.

I had a child who was joining form one and he was required to buy a lot of books and the school fees was also on the higher side due to the fact that he was a new admission. I had no money to pay for his school fees because I had no reliable income and my husband no longer engages in most income-generating activities due to his health. The transfers, therefore, came at the right time and I managed to pay the amount of money that was required of KES. 3000. I was so happy and grateful for the support more so at that particular time of need. The remaining amount of KES. 470 was also of help in terms of buying food for my family.

I am married with five children, and my husband is old and unemployed. I work as a charcoal burner, which pays as little as $3 for a bag of charcoal. Working in the same business for some years has made me weak and not able to keep up with the backbreaking work of charcoal making. My husband could not do any work and hence stays at home with no source of income. The funds from GiveDirectly have been supportive since it’s the only income I get after my charcoal business. Since I got enrolled, I have used all the money received for food and school fees. Recently I used $15 and paid school fees for my children and used $10 to buy food which is normally five packets of maize flour. The rest $5 was used to buy secondhand clothes for my children because most of their clothes were torn. The little earned from my charcoal business bought vegetables and cooking oil, which ensured at least we have a meal for a week. What more could I ask from this support program? The funds have been so helpful, especially with these hard economic times and being the breadwinner of the family.

Nourishment has been one of the biggest challenges that my family and I face especially with the on going drought back in our village. Therefore as soon as I noticed that we had received the funds, due to fear of going hungry which with have had to withstand and go through a couple of times, I used KES 1,500 from the transfers that came in and used it to purchased thirteen packets of maize flour. Furthermore, I had to pay tuition fee because my five children had actually been home for a fortnight without attending classes because I had no money to settle the debt. Lastly I saved the KES 509 that I was left with in case of any emergency in the long run.

GiveDirectly is really helpful. It has really helped me especially in buying food and paying school. I do not see any wrongs GiveDirectly is doing nor something to improve on.

For the first transfer, I used half, KES 600, for food and half, KES 600, for payment of school fees for my kids. For the second transfer, I bought maize with it and went to make flour as the flour we buy in the shop is not preferable to me. One bag of maize costs KES 1800, so I got one. The remaining, KES 1200 I paid school fees for my 5 children. I then bought 2 hens at KES 400.

It was in the morning and I was just at home relaxing, when a relative of mine came to inform me that they had already started receiving the money from GiveDirectly and that I should also check my phone. I checked and confirmed that I had received the money from GiveDirectly. I was so happy when I got the money because I had nothing that at that moment and I was wondering how the day was going to be, but GiveDirectly saved it for me. I was so grateful for I got food for my children and everyone, including my children, was very happy and grateful as well.

The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving money from GiveDirectly is that the assistance renewed my hope and gave me something to look forward to, which wasn't possible before as there was nothing I used to look forward to. I was able to get food for my children, unlike before when they could stay hungry for the whole day with little or no hope of getting food the following day because there wasn't much of income generating activity that I had to cater for that. Therefore, GiveDirectly changed all that and gave us hope, I am so grateful.

I split the transfer into and addressed the most pressing challenges that we were facing, which was the lack of enough and regular food as well as school fees for my children. I therefore spent KES 560 and the remaining KES 560 to buy food and pay for my children's school fees respectively. The two challenges had been the most pressing ones as when my children go to school, they would stay in school for the whole day without food and when they come back still there wouldn't be anything for them. Sometimes, they would just decide to stay at home because they can't concentrate in school when hungry, at times they would just stay at home because they'll have been sent home for school fees arrears. Therefore, I spent the transfer on making sure I get them food and pay their school fees. This is because when they get a good education, I believe they will stand a chance to get employed in the future and inturn I'll be able to depend on them too, in helping me to address the financial challenges I will be facing in the future. All that, thanks to GiveDirectly.