In the coming years, I plan to fulfill my dream of renovating my house. The current structure, made of old sticks, is in poor condition and at risk of collapsing at any moment. With the rainy season fast approaching, I live in constant fear of what might happen. As a mother of four children, I am deeply concerned about their well-being, as our current shelter is not safe or conducive for a healthy living environment. To bring this dream to life, I intend to sell some of my goats and use savings from the Merry Go Round initiative to gather the necessary funds for the renovation. Achieving this goal will make me the happiest mother alive, as I will finally be free from the constant worry and stress about our living conditions. It will bring peace and stability to my family, which we have long yearned for.

A few months ago, I joined a merry-go-round savings group with some trusted villagers. My goal was to accumulate cash transfers to renovate my house, which is on the verge of collapsing. With the rainy season fast approaching, I’m increasingly worried that the rain might cause the house to fall, leaving us homeless. Over the past three months, I managed to save $60 in the group. Soon, when it’s my turn to receive the money, I’ll be able to purchase enough materials to start the renovation. Once the work is completed, I’ll no longer have to worry about our safety or the security of our belongings. My husband and I have both wanted to renovate the house for a long time, but we couldn’t afford to due to our unstable, hand-to-mouth jobs. Thankfully, this initiative is giving us the opportunity to finally achieve that dream. In the meantime, I’ve used $42 to buy food for my family. It has been a while since we’ve had consistent meals, as a prolonged two-year drought has rendered our farms unproductive. This support has brought much-needed relief and hope to our household.

My main goal this year is to expand my goat herd. In May 2024, with the $120 I received from my merry-go-round, I purchased two goats for $100. I used the remaining $20 to buy medicine to keep the goats healthy and strong. I am thrilled to see that one of the goats is already pregnant. As my herd grows, I plan to sell some of the goats to fund renovations for my house. The current structure, made of old sticks, is in poor condition and at risk of collapsing. I aim to renovate my one-room house to withstand the upcoming heavy rains.

I am a mother of four children: three who are currently in school and one who is not yet of school age. To ensure their education remains uninterrupted and they are not sent home from school, I used $30 from the transfers to cover their school fees. I believe investing in their education is crucial as it will benefit them in the future. I am also involved in a savings group where we contribute $20 each month, with the goal of eventually purchasing goats for investment. From the transfers, I spent $60 on this savings group to move closer to buying goats. These goats will not only be a source of income through sales but can also be traded for cows, which will assist in land preparation during planting season and can be rented out for additional income. With the remaining $14, I bought food to ensure my children have enough to eat and won't go hungry.

My main focus for the upcoming year and beyond is to keep saving up and gradually expanding my goat herd. This might seem like a simple goal, but it holds immense significance for me and my family's future. With each goat I acquire, I'm not just adding to my assets; I'm investing in a better life for my children, especially as they transition into secondary school. Each month, with the help of monthly transfers, I plan to add to my goat herd. This approach ensures a steady process without disrupting my children's education. Goats are not only an investment but also a source of stability for our family's future. By prioritizing this goal, I am laying the foundation for a better life and brighter opportunities for my children.

The first thing I did after getting the money was to pay school fees of $40 for my three kids in lower grades. Seeing them in their uniforms and heading off to school alongside their peers brought me immense joy. Education had always been a priority, but with my tailoring business struggling due to a lack of customers, keeping them in school had become an uphill battle. The peace of mind that came with knowing their education was secured allowed me to focus on other pressing needs. Also, I set aside $20 in a merry-go-round to purchase a goat. Owning livestock, particularly a goat, has always been a dream of mine due to its potential to support us in financial emergencies. Later on, I finally fulfilled my long-standing wish and bought a goat for $20. I envision it helping us in the future, especially when my children transition to secondary school, which will undoubtedly bring higher expenses. Later, I invested in our home by purchasing building poles worth $14 to renovate a dangerously deteriorating wall. The thought of the wall collapsing and causing harm had been a constant source of anxiety. With the remaining amount, I bought food for my family, filling our home with the warmth and comfort of shared meals. This simple act of buying food, made possible by the transfers, ensured that we not only survived but thrived, nourishing both our bodies and spirits.

Proficient in the operation and utilization of a sewing machine, I have been unable to establish my tailoring enterprise due to the suboptimal condition of the machine at my disposal. My strategy involves accumulating sufficient funds from my upcoming transfers to procure a new sewing machine. This acquisition will pave the way for the establishment of my business, enabling me to generate a sustainable income. The invaluable financial support from the transfers has been instrumental in elevating my quality of life, for which I am profoundly grateful.

As the new year commenced, I utilized the funds from the transfers to facilitate my children's return to school. This involved the procurement of new uniforms for all three of them. Opting for a cost-effective approach, I acquired the clothing material for $4 and personally tailored the uniforms, leveraging my sewing skills. Additionally, I settled lingering school fee arrears amounting to $44, ensuring their seamless reintegration into the school environment. During the festive period, I allocated $25 towards the purchase of new attire for my children, further ensuring their tidiness and presentability. Furthermore, I allocated $30 to procure food supplies for my family, ensuring that we never experienced scarcity in our meals. The invaluable financial assistance has significantly contributed to addressing my family's needs, particularly in the absence of a substantial personal income source.

I was a tailor but my work had been greatly affected by the drought. Many stopped making clothes and I lost most of my customers in turn. My children who are school going used to be the biggest beneficiaries of my business as I used my earnings to take them through school. Now I am reliant on the transfers to ensure this happens. I am hoping to use this transfers to take my children through school and have then become working class citizens where they are able to take care of themselves.

My 3 children have been great beneficiaries of Givedirectly transfers. I have used my transfers to ensure they stay in school. In June I spent $15 to pay for their school fees while I spent my entire August transfers settling their school fees balance. I also used the money to settled debts I had accumulated in the shop from where I get food items. I paid $25 in July and $15 in June. I was also able to buy toiletries in July whole also buying sugar using this transfers in the same month.

My main goal is to see my children go to school until they complete their high school education without facing the challenges of being sent home for school fees. To achieve this, I would ensure that I save every part of my monthly transfers so that whenever there would be school fees need, I would not have to struggle as I had done before.

For the longest time now, I have been buying food for my family on credit because my husband and I do not have reliable sources of income and getting money had been quite a struggle, with the little that we manage to get, we spend it all on other necessities as well. GiveDirectly coming in, had been a blessing to my family since that had always been the money that we mostly rely on every month. Therefore, I normally buy food on credit and wait for the transfers to settle the debts, and with the most recent one, I paid debts worth $21.70 for the items I borrowed and paid school fees amounting to $13 to my two children who had been sent home for school fees. I felt so relieved and grateful.

I would like to start farming, and rear chicken for commercial purposes. I currently have twenty chicks and hopefully, they will mature, reproduce and fulfill my dreams to start a business.

Before receiving the transfer, I would only afford one meal a day. I am a tailor and in the village, I do not get enough customers to make me enough money to cater to all my family's needs. Most days I make $1.5. My husband is a masonry, he gets $8 a day whenever he gets lucky and called in for a job. His money helps pay school fees for my four children. And whenever he is not called for work my children are sent home from school. Receiving this money has enabled my children to be in school full-time. I spend the most recent transfer to pay school fees for all my children.

In my opinion GiveDirectly did very well by enrolling everyone within the household. Having my husband and myself receiving the money separately have made our lives very easy and greatly reduced the cost of living as well. The security information has helped us keep the money safe as well. On the other hand, I did not find anything that I thought GiveDirectly could have improved or could have done better. Everything they did was good and we appreciate it.

I used $15 to pay school fees for my four children and another $15 to buy food and water for the family. I am a mother of four and I normally do tailoring as an income generating business. Things have lately been very tough for everyone largely because of the drought and famine experienced in our area. There is no crop farming and even livestock are facing the worst starvation. My business has been performing dismally just like anyone else and getting to make even as little as $3 per day is now a toll order. We are so grateful and lucky to have been part of the beneficiaries of this program since we get to receive the money monthly and in turn use it to buy food, water and also pay school fees for our four children. In my household, my husband and I are receiving the cash and this makes it very easy to budget and share costs within our household. Things would have been tougher had we not received money from GiveDirectly.

I was in the market attending to my business around 3.00 p.m. when I received the M-PESA message. I felt so excited after checking my account balance and found I had received money from GiveDirectly.

The biggest difference is the reduced financial burdens. The income from my business is too little hence could not enable me to cater to my basic needs. I used the money to buy food and pay school fees enabling us to enjoy balanced diets and have reduced financial burdens. In addition, my husband used his transfer to repair our house which had become so weak making us live in fear. We now enjoy comfortable accommodation courtesy of GiveDirectly's support. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for the support that has since enabled us to live a decent life.

I am a tailor and roast potatoes along the road that I sell for income generation. We are six people in the family; my husband, four kids, and I. All our kids are school-going and I help my husband pay their school fees. The transfer from GiveDirectly helped us a lot because it came when we had run out of food and had nowhere to get money to buy food or pay school fees for our kids who were already back at home due to an unpaid fee balance. Using the transfers, I settled KES 400, part of the school fee arrears, and bought food worth KES 800. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for supporting me financially.