Looking ahead to the coming year, my goal is to start my own welding firm after I complete my studies in May 2025. This dream has been my driving force throughout my time at Mariakani Vocational Center, where I've worked hard to master the skills needed to succeed in this field. Once I finish school, I plan to save the money I receive and carefully set aside each amount to build up the funds I need to start my business. By doing this, I will not only be able to pursue my passion but also provide for my family. My mom has shouldered the heavy burden of educating my five siblings through her casual jobs, and I want to ease that load. With my welding firm, I’ll be in a position to support her and contribute to the future of my siblings.

I am currently a student at Mariakani Vocational Center, where I am pursuing a course in welding and fabricating. It has been challenging for me to pay for my fees since my dad passed away, leaving my mum to care for my five siblings' education and me through casual jobs. With an average fee of $100 per term, I struggle to keep up with payments, but I am determined to continue my education. The most recent three transfers I received, totaling $102, were entirely spent on paying my school fees. This was necessary to ensure I could stay enrolled and keep working towards my dreams. Each time I receive a transfer from GiveDirectly, my first thought is to secure my education. The money I receive is my lifeline, allowing me to pay my fees and keep my education on track. This routine of using the transfers for my schooling has been essential. It provides the stability I need to focus on my studies and build a future where I can support myself and my family.

In the upcoming year and beyond, my main priority is my studies. Time is precious, and I can't afford to waste any of it, especially since resources are scarce. I'm determined to make the most of every moment to achieve my goals as quickly as possible. Missing classes could disrupt my schedule, so I need to stay focused. I'm truly grateful to Give Directly for their financial support because without it, I wouldn't be able to pursue the course I'm taking. I chose a welding course because once I finish the practical work, I'll be able to employ myself.

I want to express my gratitude to Give Directly for helping me achieve my dream. With only one parent supporting our family of six children through charcoal burning and small-scale farming, every bit of assistance is crucial. I've been saving my transfers diligently since completing my fourth form, driven by my determination to join college. Through these savings, I finally managed to enroll. Every time I receive my monthly transfer, I prioritize using the entire amount to pay my fees. With the recent transfer of $102, I used the entire sum for this purpose. I'm thrilled because this ensures I can pursue my studies with optimism, aiming to change our family's narrative from poverty to a better future.

I have been passionate about community work from my time as a child. My goal was to find a career that allowed me to serve my community. On being enrolled to the Givedirectly project, I revived this dream which lay dead for so many years. I am now saving so I can achieve the desired $560 to ensure I start school as I find other ways to save cash to help me pay my school fees. I want to be able to complete school and come back to serve my community as well as help my mother support the children still in school.

My father died in 2007 and my mother was left alone to fend for her 7, school going children. My mother has been involved in the charcoal business which does not make much. I finished form four in 2018 and since there was limited finances I quit my college ambitions and got into working casual jobs to help support my mother. This was until I was enrolled into the Givedirectly project. I could now use my transfers to support my mother and now even pursue my dream of furthering my studies. Monthly from my transfers I help my mother buy food by giving her $14, I then save the rest on my phone.

Givedirectly transfers have reignited my passion dreams and ambition. I did my KCSE exams in 2018 and have not gotten a chance to get into college because of financial constrains. I however started saving towards a goal of $1000 from my Givedirectly transfers with the aim of joining college to pursue a diploma in ICT. My hope is that I will create employment for my fellow youths by starting ICT related businesses after school.

I am so thankful fro receiving Givedirectly transfers. It has allowed me create a monthly budget that allow me to take off my mother plate some of the most pressing needs so she is able to focus on other things. I have four siblings in school, two girls and two boys. The boys are in secondary school and their school fees is quite the load and can go upto $100. I make monthly payments of $1500 to their school to ensure we reduce the termly fee expectation as much as possible. I pend $9 towards buying food items which allow us to have something for a while as we work to get more finances. I also save $10 monthly towards my goal of going back to school.

I have for a while planned to join college to do a diploma in social work and community but I was forced to spend the little savings I had towards my brother's school fees. My plan is to join in approximately one year from now, but this largely depends on how much savings I will have made the. Having this diploma will put in a good position to get a good employment.

I assist my mother, who is the primary sponsor for my two brothers who are in Form two and four respectively in high school, in paying the school fees . My mum and I each contribute toward this course and out of my monthly remittances, $15 is used pay school fees. Prior to this, the government used to provide bursaries to assist with their education. However, for whatever reason, these bursaries ceased at some point, and my mother was unable to handle all of these responsibilities alone. This is when I chimed in. The remaining amount of my monthly transfers assist us in covering the expense of food and other home necessities.

Being the first born in a family of 8 children, GiveDirectly transfers have meant a lot to me and my family. I have been able to support my mother pay school fees for my two siblings who are now in secondary school. While doing this, I have relieved my mother who is also a widow and allowed her to concentrate on the needs of other siblings who are still in lower primary school. Had we not received these transfers together with my younger brother and mother then things would have continued to be tough for us as a family. Relying on support from my mother who did charcoal selling to make some income was just not enough. We would have our brothers being sent home for school fees affecting their overall performance in school. At least things are now different in that we have shared responsibilities among ourselves. Going into the future, my goal is to start saving part of my transfer as I prepare to join college to further my studies. I had to take a pause after I completed my form four studies due to lack of school fees. GiveDirectly transfers have awoken my dreams and made me have a clear vision of what I want to do. This year I will be saving from both the casual work that I do and the transfer that I receive each month from GiveDirectly. My target is to reach $200 before the year ends and I will be good to go. After joining school then I will later invest more money on goat rearing and other livestock.

I completed my O'level final exams in 2018, and I have never attended college. As a result, after four years of waiting, I am eager to join college and advance my studies. Keeping this in mind, I thought about saving $5 from my recent transfer. Furthermore, because my two younger siblings are sent home often to pay their school fees, I offered assistance by paying $10 for them. We are half-orphans, and our mother struggles to put food on the table from her charcoal-making business. Finally, I spent $19 transfer on food for our family, which lasted us for six days. We did not have much food back then. I am grateful to GiveDirecrly for its financial assistance.

My father passed on in the year 2007 and since then, we have been under the care of my mother. I have six more siblings whom she takes care of, but she gets overwhelmed. She burns charcoal for sale but the work is hectic, involving and less profitable. With the last three months’ transfers, I used KES 4500 to pay for my siblings' school fees so that I could clear the arrears they owed the school. KES 4000 on foodstuffs and saved KES 500 in my mobile money account.

It is good that GiveDirectly gives us unconditional transfers which help us attend to pressing needs, such as paying school fees. Whoever, I would like to encourage the organization to give us a lump sum amount of the money so that we can be able to plan accordingly in paying for our needs.

I spent my entire transfer paying school fees for my younger sibling, who had completed his primary education and was joining secondary education. Poverty has made it difficult for my mother, who earns a living as a casual laborer selling charcoal, unable to pay his school fees. I help her in paying school fees for my other siblings. Two are in secondary school, and four are in primary school. My father passed away 10 years ago and since then my mother and I have faced several challenges in providing for the family’s needs. I work at a pharmacy selling drugs and I earn very little (KES 4000 per month) which is not enough to cater to all our needs.

It was at night at 10.03 pm and I was asleep when the message tone woke me up and I eagerly reached out to my phone as I was reading the message my eyes could not align with my thoughts because my excitement and joy of receiving the funds was confusing in the moment where I least expected the cash.

My goal and desire is to complete my college application and get enrolled in the school of community development. It has been my passion and I feel like this is the biggest difference in my daily life, where my focus is to get started with my college studies which will be an added advantage to secure a bursary eventually. I would like to help my mother especially now that we all relied on my elder brother who was employed but now is not due to the Covid-19 measures that affected his employer. I believe with the five year support program am able to support my mother and achieve my goal of completing my studies.

My father died in 2007 and my mother was left with a burden of raising eight children unemployed.Since my mother is not educated she has relied mostly on farming and charcoal burning business which is quite the only job available for her current situation. I am the third born and recently I finished my secondary education but not able to join college due to financial constraints. Currently with the KES 2000 per month that my mother earns,she has drifted her focus on my younger siblings and basic needs like food.On receiving my cash transfer I spent KES 1700 to buy food because its been quite a struggle for my mother to support us all and saved the rest KES 1300 for my college as my goal is to do a diploma course in social and community development.