In the coming year and beyond, my primary focus is on my children's education because I want them to become independent and successful in the future. To ensure this, I plan to start saving little by little to buy sheep and goats. These animals will be a valuable investment that I can sell when needed to cover their education costs. By building up my livestock, I will create a steady source of income that will stand in for my children’s school fees and other needs, helping me secure their bright futures.

I am a mother of eight school-going children, and together with my husband, we work hard burning charcoal to provide for our family. When we received the last three transfers, totaling $102, I made sure to invest the money wisely to secure our future and meet our current needs. First, I used $41 to buy a sheep, adding to the two I already had, bringing my total to three sheep. These animals are like a savings account for us; they give us security for the future and can be sold when we need money for important expenses. This investment makes me feel more confident about providing for my family in the long term. In addition to securing our future, I used $26 to pay the examination fees for my children. Their education is crucial to me, and I was relieved when they were allowed to sit for their exams after the payment. Finally, since charcoal burning is our main source of income, I knew I needed to ensure that my family had enough to eat. I spent the remaining $35 on a sack of maize to keep food on the table. This way, I can focus on my work without worrying about what my children will eat. Every cent of these transfers has been put to good use, helping me care for my family and plan for a better future.

I plan to buy more goats and chickens and breed them to increase their numbers. I believe this project will help me address the financial challenges in my household by providing a source of income through selling the chickens. With both my husband and I lacking a stable income, we mostly rely on selling charcoal, which isn't very profitable. Since I have seven children in school, having these animals will be beneficial, as I can sell some of them to help with their needs. I intend to use the transfers starting next month to get this project underway, and I'm confident that by the end of the year, I'll have a thriving flock and herd at home.

I have seven children who attend a nearby primary school, and paying their tuition fees has been a constant challenge due to the lack of stable jobs for my spouse and me. Without the support we receive, I’m certain they wouldn’t be able to attend school. Recently, I paid a total of $45 for their tuition fees, ensuring they can have a quality education without the frequent interruptions caused by being sent home due to unpaid fees. This stability is crucial for their academic performance and overall well-being. To prepare for the future and support my growing family, I recently bought three chickens and one goat for $34. These animals are well-suited to our semi-arid area and should multiply over the coming months. This increase in livestock may allow me to sell some animals to help cover school fees and other basic needs for my children. With the remaining $29, I’ve been purchasing food and household items to sustain my family until the next payment comes in.

I am grateful that I no longer have to worry about having enough food in my household. This has allowed me to focus on my children's education and invest in my farming activities. I had a good harvest, so I won't have to spend much on food for the coming months. My priority now is to pay my children's school fees on time, as I do not have a stable source of income and rely mostly on selling charcoal, which does not pay much. I have six children in school, so the transfers I receive are crucial to ensuring that they have a seamless academic journey. Additionally, I plan to buy more chickens and breed them to multiply their numbers. I believe that this project will help me overcome the financial hurdles in my household by providing a source of income by selling the chickens.

As a parent, providing the best education for your children is always a top priority. However, for me and my husband, who have six children enrolled in school, it has been a struggle to afford their education as we rely on casual jobs. It has been a source of constant worry for me to see my children being sent home frequently due to a lack of fees, and I feared they might struggle academically due to our low financial status. My only source of income has been burning and selling charcoal from tree stumps, which is physically exhausting and pays very little. Thankfully, receiving the monthly transfers has been a huge relief for us. We did not have the opportunity to go to school, and we want our children to have a better future. Therefore, paying fees on time has become my top priority as soon as I receive the monthly transfer. The recent transfer enabled me to clear $80 of my children's fee arrears, which has given me peace of mind. Despite our financial struggles, I am grateful for the support that has enabled me to ensure my children stay in school. In addition, I spent $20 on acquiring three chickens, which has increased my poultry to ten. My goal is to breed them and sell them in the future to generate extra income to help pay for school fees or other financial needs. Lastly, I spent the remaining amount on buying foodstuffs for my family, which provided us with enough food to eat.

Both of my children have finished their final exams, with one completing class eight and the other finishing class six. The older child will be entering form one, while the younger one will be starting junior secondary school at the beginning of the year. This transition necessitates a significant investment in purchasing new school uniforms and covering school fees for their enrollment in their new schools. I am extremely grateful for the support I have received from Give Directly, and I am hopeful that it will further enhance my life in the upcoming year.

As a part-time laborer, I primarily earn my income by selling charcoal. When the rainy season arrives, I shift my focus to working on the farm to ensure a successful harvest, which is crucial for our food security. I recently spent $55 on purchasing food items for my family of seven. I am grateful and content knowing that we have not experienced food shortages over the past three months. Additionally, I allocated $20 to buy medicines for some of my goats, which had fallen ill due to a mysterious disease. Thankfully, they have recovered and are now in good health. Moreover, I dedicated $15 to cover the school fees for my five children, enabling them to sit for their end-of-year exams. In a strategic move for future income generation, I invested $12 in purchasing hens. The financial assistance I have received thus far has significantly transformed my life for the better, and I am genuinely pleased with the progress.

My main goal is to save enough money by next year to enroll one of my children in high school after they complete primary school this year. In pursuit of this goal, I intend to keep buying goats and chickens to ensure I have a source of funds. I would be happier to secure education for all my seven children, who are currently attending school. Both my husband and I rely on charcoal burning as our primary source of income, and we equally contribute to support the family's needs.

In April, I spent $15 on school fees for my four children, as they had accumulated debts for the current term and were constantly being sent back home. Thanks to the cash transfers, this has become less of a concern, and they have not been sent home since. I also allocated $19 for food, as our supplies had depleted, and it was essential to have enough meals to sustain us during the busy farming season. From the funds I got in May, I decided to invest $25 in buying a goat, which I plan to rear to provide a future source of income. With this addition, I now have four goats, all of which were acquired through cash transfers. I also set aside $9 for purchasing food for the household. In June, I used $10 to cover tuition balances for my children, especially those in kindergarten who were at risk of being sent home. Additionally, I spent $9 on buying new clothes for the two youngest children in kindergarten, as they had been wearing casual clothes to school due to financial constraints. With the remaining funds, I purchased sweaters, school bags, and school shoes to ensure they have what they needed for their studies. As we entered July, we were fortunate to have food at home from the recent farming. So, I used $25 to buy hens, which can be a quick and affordable source of income when sold. This investment can help generate money more rapidly. Furthermore, I set aside $9 to save for purchasing sugar for our breakfast needs.

In the coming year, I hope to see my children being able to advance in academics. Before being enrolled in the program, I was almost giving up on their schooling since we could not raise their school fees. However, GiveDirectly's monthly transfers have been in handy. Although their fee arrears had accumulated, my husband and I have always found it easy to pay a portion of the transfer as school fees. They always have adequate time in school. When the trend continues undisrupted, I am optimistic they will succeed in their studies. After that, I can consider investing in poultry farming and raising goats. That can be a trusted avenue for generating a supplementary family income.

We are living as a large family of twelve people. Unfortunately, both my husband nor I do not have a job, and we lack a source of income. We, therefore, resort to burning charcoal, and my husband occasionally uses someone's motorcycle for a taxi. However, he rarely generates good money from the taxi business because of the high fuel cost and narrowed customer base. With the most recent transfer, I spent $15 on school fees for my three school-going children. Courtesy of the GiveDirectly's transfers, they are always in school and have ample time to participate in class work, unlike before when they were often sent home for fee collection. In addition, I spent $19 on food since we had depleted what I had bought the previous day and had no option but to forgo meals the following day.

My husband and I, along with our seven kids, make up our present family of nine. The primary breadwinner, my husband, runs a motorcycle taxi service, and I occasionally burn charcoal for sale. Recently, the business has slowed down, making it difficult to provide for our family's essential necessities. My children were sent home a few days before to the transfer because they owed $40 in unpaid school fees. We  did not have the funds to send kids back to school, and I was late with the tuition payments. You can only imagine how happy I was to get the transfer. I instantly spent $40 on their fees and $49 on their meals . The $5 that is left I used to invest in the future by buying two hens to raise with the intention of selling part of them after they hatch. I am really appreciative of the help since without the transfer, my kids wouldn't have been able to take the end-of-year exams. The transfer has significantly improved our way of life.

In my view, GiveDirectly is a unique NGO that offers financial support to its recipient. By opting to give unconditional cash transfer, it creates a space for the recipients to have free will to decide on the best way to spend their transfer in a way that can meet our immediate needs. It also ensures that all possible areas of threats that may expose recipients to external dangers and fraud-related cases are mitigated. For instance, it does not only send money through Mpesa but deliberately labors in advising the recipients to ensure that their Mpesa security PIN is kept as secret as possible. There is nothing that GiveDirectly does not do well.

I have five children, and all are school-going. Since I fully depend on charcoal making which earns little wages, I have been constantly struggling to support their educational needs. Therefore with the transfer, I opted to use KES 2,000 on paying their fee arrears. This enables them to have ample time in school thus they were not sent home in the last month. In addition, I spend KES 1,000 on buying food hence that comfortably took us for about a week. I am so grateful to GiveDirectly for its support.

That day's highlight was receiving the transfer. I took a sigh of relief because my children would be able to return to school after being kicked out due to unpaid fee balances. I was even more relieved when my husband confirmed that he, too, had received his transfer.

Prior to the transfer, my children were sent out of class at least three times a week to collect unsettled fees. I was sometimes forced to persuade the school administration to let them study while I worked to raise the funds through my charcoal selling business. The transfers changed the narrative. I am glad they have never missed out on their studies since then.

My five children had been sent from class the day I received the transfer to collect unpaid school fees. Previously, settling this amount had proven futile because my charcoal selling business barely generates enough income to cover food, let alone school fees. My husband and I both rely on this business for a living, which brings in about KES 3,700 per month, only sufficient for one meal per day.   As a result, the transfer was a great solution to the school fee problem, and I utilized KES 1,000 to keep my children in school. I used the rest of the money to buy sugar and prepare breakfast for them so they could start school on a full stomach.