Owning cows to plow my farm has always been a dream of mine, but because cows are expensive, I decided to take an alternative approach that would ease the burden and make it easier to achieve this goal. I therefore started by focusing on purchasing goats, hoping they would multiply and grow in both number and value over time. I therefore used my transfers from GiveDirectly to buy goats, and I plan to use my future transfers to acquire even more. Currently, I have ten goats, and I pray they continue to multiply and increase in number and value. In the future, I intend to sell or trade some of these goats to eventually acquire cows, bringing me closer to my dream of having livestock to work on my farm. Additionally, I will also be able to use the proceeds from selling some goats to support my family and also pay for my four children’s school fees, ensuring they can continue their education and build a better future.

I have always dreamed of owning cows to plow my farm, which would help me cut down on the costs that I use to hire cows from other people to prepare my farm. To make this dream come true, I decided to start by purchasing goats as it is a cheaper and easier way to achieve this goal. I therefore used $68 of my recent transfers to buy goats, hoping they will multiply in both number and value so that in the future I may be able to trade them for cows that I will use to plow my farm thereby cutting down the farming costs. Additionally, I spent $30 of my transfers to pay school fees for my daughter, who is currently in secondary school, ensuring she can continue her studies. Lastly, I allocated the remaining $4 to buy food for my family, supplementing what we already had at home. I am truly grateful for the support that GiveDirectly has provided me and my family.

My dream has always been to own cows that I could use to plow my farm during the farm preparation period, but cows are very expensive and I cannot afford them, so I decided to take it step-by-step. I started by focusing on purchasing goats instead, with the hope that they would multiply and increase in number and value over time. I therefore opted to use my transfers from GiveDirectly to purchase the first few goats, and I plan to use my future transfers to buy more goats. Currently, I have six goats, and I pray that they continue to multiply. In the future, I plan to sell or trade some of these goats in order to acquire cows, which will allow me to fulfill my dream of owning cows to work on my farm. I will also be able to sell some of these goats and use the proceeds to pay the school fees for my four children. This will ensure they can continue their education and have a better future.

I have always had a dream of owning cows that I could use to plow my farm. However, cows are very expensive, and I cannot afford to buy them outright. Instead, I opted to start by purchasing goats, with the hope that they would multiply and increase in number and value over time. This will allow me to eventually sell the goats and use the proceeds to buy the cows I desire. I therefore spent $70 to purchase two goats, adding to the ones that I already have. In addition to investing in livestock, I also had to address some outstanding school fees for my three children. I spent $28 to pay these fees, ensuring that my children could continue their studies without interruption. Finally, I used the remaining $4 to purchase sugar. This will allow my children to enjoy a warm cup of tea in the morning before going to school, helping to start their day off right.

I want to continue with the momentum of raising livestock until I can acquire cows. I know that I cannot raise funds to buy a cow, which costs at least $300. It will be challenging to save this amount because of financial constraints like school fees. So I plan to start rearing goats and sheep because, after they reproduce, I can sell some of them and raise funds to get cattle. Having cows will fulfill many needs. One of them is helping me with farming activities like plowing. Also, they will produce milk for domestic consumption and for selling to gain profits. This will help my child particularly, who has been underweight for a long time and require milk. I am excited that I will not have to buy as I do now.

I have a daughter, Neema, who completed secondary school last year. However, there was still a tuition debt at school that needed to be settled before she could acquire her certificates. I am happy that her father and I are both beneficiaries of GiveDirectly’s transfers, so we both contributed towards clearing the fee; I contributed $30. I am glad that she now has her certificates. I also spent $16 to pay tuition for the other two children in primary school. They had been sent home that day to collect the money, and I am happy that the transfers came just in time. They resumed their classes without wasting a lot of time. I also decided to buy a goat for $15 and a sheep for $34 to rear them. When this livestock reproduces, I can sell the animals to raise money for emergency needs like school for my children. This will come in handy, especially before the cash transfers arrive. Right now, I rely on farming, which only ensures food needs are covered. The transfers, on the other hand, have helped cover school fees for my children and ensure they continue with their studies.

In the upcoming year, my goal is to purchase a cow, which I plan to rear and eventually sell to fund my children's education. This investment holds significant value for me, as besides its eventual sale, the cow will serve the practical purpose of plowing my land, proving to be a dual benefit. To achieve this objective, I intend to allocate $25 from each of my upcoming transfers every month, and I am confident that with this consistent effort, I will succeed. I am grateful for the progress I have achieved so far.

Life posed significant challenges before, and I harbored genuine concerns that my children might be forced to drop out of school. Juggling kids in secondary and primary school, I am delighted to share that all are actively learning, with one having successfully completed his education. The positive impact of this project is evident in our ability to acquire livestock and install solar lighting in our home. Together with my husband, we are involved in farming and charcoal selling to meet the needs of our five children. A sudden illness befell my son, requiring urgent treatment, for which I spent $34. I am relieved that he has fully recovered and was able to sit for his examinations on time. Another $34 was invested in purchasing a goat, which I view as an asset for future sale to cover my children's school fees. The remaining amount was allocated to settle a school debt accrued during the year, enabling my son to obtain his school leaving certificate. My profound gratitude goes to this organization, as it has significantly elevated the quality of our lives.

I hope to get my children through school. I have five children, four are in school. My two daughters are in secondary school form four and one while my other son and daughter are in primary school, one in class 5 and the other class 3. I want to give them a better chance at life. I didn't get an education and that has maybe limited my opportunities but I do not want my children to suffer the same fate. I am also buying animals which will act as a cushion since animals reproduce whenever we will have need for school fees with the animals we can always sell to cover that need.

The transfers always come in when we need it the most. In the month of April my girls in form one and form four had been sent away from school since we had not paid their school fees, I received my transfers shortly after they arrived and I redirected it to sort out their school fees. I divided $28 equally among them. My children in primary school were also required to register for exams and I also divided $4 among them. The remaining $2 I bough a chicken which now is the source of the eggs we have been enjoying. I may since I had already sorted school I bought a goat at $30 and then used $4 to get flour and sugar. I was again required to pay school fees for the girls in secondary school in June and so I sent $15 to each of them and then bought flour for those at home as the money came in when we had nothing in the house in terms of food.

Achieving financial stability that will allow me to cater to the needs of my five children is my ultimate goal. Having two of them in secondary school and the other two in elementary school, it is challenging to fully cover their education costs because I lack a stable source of income. This is why I want to start buying and rearing goats, as I can easily sell them later to support my children’s school cost. So far, am grateful for the cash transfers because they have ensured my children never miss a class. Am sure if it were not for the money, some of them would have dropped out. 

When my daughter, Nuru, joined high school earlier this year, she had to borrow school uniforms from her friend because I did not have enough money to buy her some. The amount my husband and I had raised through charcoal-making mainly covered her admission fees and books. The fact that she had to go to school in borrowed attire broke my heart. More so, she also had challenges accessing some school amenities and meals because we had not paid for her student identity card. So, after I received the transfer, I prioritized buying her two pairs of school uniforms for $25 and paid $5 for the school ID card. Am happy and relieved that her learning experience has improved ever since and she can now comfortably benefit from the student benefits through her card. I used the remaining $4 to buy food for my other three children back home, who had been complaining about feeling hungry. 

I value the assistance from Give Directly since it has made my life better. My two children, who are enrolled in basic and senior schools, owed the school $20 in tuition arrears, which I paid when I recently received the $34 in this month. Due to the program, they do not miss class because of unpaid tuition. $3 I used to buy a hen to rear with the intention of selling some of the chicks to make money for our household needs, and I still have $14 saved away. Unfortunately, my husband's mother passed away last month, therefore the entire $30 was spent on funeral costs. I used the remaining $30 to buy a goat to raise since I have school-age children. They multiply more quickly, typically twice a year, and I am optimistic that in two years I will have a sizable herd that I can sell to make money for my kids' tuition.

I have not yet seen anything worth complaining so far when it comes to the organization because the finances that I have been receiving have assisted me quite a lot. Before my children would go almost close to a month without attending school but I consider myself lucky now after getting enrolled because their education is no longer a problem.

Two days prior to receiving the funds, three of my children has actually been kicked out of school because I had no money at the time to settle the debt in school fees. Luckily a couple of days later the organization came through for me and I received the transaction. I quickly went ahead and paid KES 1,000 for the three of them. After I decided to use KES 1,000 on nutrition since we hardly had any food left in the house and would have probably gone to bed hungry. Therefore I bought ninety kilograms of maize since it was less costly compared to maize flour. Lastly I used the remaining balance of KES 1,000 and bought a goat abd although the money was not complete, I promised the owner that I would eventually finish paying the debt since the goat was initially KES 2,700.

I was in my house when I heard one of my relatives shouting at the top of her voice that she had received her transfer. I quickly checked my phone and found out that I had received my transfer, too. Tears of joy rolled down my cheeks as I jumped up and down. I walked out of my house and delivered the good news to my other relatives and we all broke into a dance.

Buying food is the biggest difference that the funds have made in my life. I felt so much pain staring at my children cry out loud due to hunger. I am happy that since the day I received the transfer, my family is eating well.

My husband and I are casual laborers earning a living through making and selling charcoal. The past three months have been tough for us in providing essential basic needs (food, paying school fees, and medication) for our family (Husband and 4 children. Our charcoal selling business has been on a downward trend caused by the tough economic times. We could not make any sales as our main customers opt to use an alternative source of fuel. They sent my children home because I could not pay school fees. Therefore, when I received my first transfer, I spent KES 600 to clear part of the school fee debts that my children owed the school for them to resume their studies. Finally, I spent the remaining amount of KES 600 on buying food for the family. We survived the last two weeks on one meal a day and this was not good for my children, as they were starving and showing signs of malnutrition.