My goal has always been to become a successful livestock farmer and create wealth through my livestock. To achieve this, I plan to use a portion of my transfers to buy more ducks, hoping they will multiply and increase in number and value. This will enable me to sell them in the future and use the proceeds to purchase goats. I have faith that these goats will also multiply and grow in value. My intention is to use some of the goats to support my grandchildren's education in the future, ensuring they have the resources they need to succeed. Additionally, I want to build a reliable source of income that I can depend on once this project reaches its conclusion. I also plan to keep using the other portion of my transfers to support my son with his business and family affairs and ease some of the burden off his shoulders as he gets his business stable. I am committed to this journey and optimistic about the opportunities it will bring for my family.

I was unwell and decided to join my son in another town, where he lives with his family, until I was in a better state to return home since I live alone. While staying with him, I have been fully dependent on him, so I wanted to support him in any way I could to ease the burden on his shoulders. He runs a business in the market where he sells some goods, and to help him with his business, I gave him $30 from my recent transfers to boost his operations, hoping it would increase his profits and enable him to continue supporting all of us who depend on him. Additionally, I spent $20 to assist with his children's education, ensuring they wouldn’t have to return home and could continue their studies. I also invested $10 to buy two ducks, hoping they would multiply and increase in number. Eventually, I plan to sell them to buy goats, which would provide a sustainable source of income in the future. Finally, I spent the remaining $42 on food for the family, ensuring we wouldn’t go hungry.

My goal is to accumulate wealth through rearing livestock by the time the transfers end. Right now, I have two ducks and three goats, all bought with the transfers. I have six grandchildren in school, and their father relies on casual jobs to support them. Sometimes it can be challenging to cover their school fees because his jobs are so unreliable. Rearing livestock would ensure that I can also contribute to their education in the future, especially when my son is stuck. I hope to be able to do this using the livestock I will have bought with the cash transfers.

After receiving the transfers, I bought two ducks worth $10. The aim is to rear these ducks so that when they mature, I can sell them to raise funds for my family’s needs. I also used $20 to repair the mud walls of my house, which were collapsing from the rainfall. I am happy that the openings are completely sealed now. I spent $38 to contribute towards buying food for the house to support my son. This ensured that my grandchildren had something to eat whenever they came home from school. There was a time when my son, the sole provider, was injured after being involved in a car accident. During this period, it meant that no one would be able to raise funds for food. So, the transfers came in handy. I spent $34 to ensure that my family had enough meals as my son recovered. I am glad that he is now well and recently resumed work.

Initially, my foray into poultry rearing and selling faced a setback when the single hen I purchased didn't survive. However, with my upcoming transfers, I intend to acquire more hens, and I am hopeful that they will multiply, providing me with an opportunity to generate income through sales. I am pleased that the financial assistance will significantly contribute to realizing this aspiration in the near future.

After my son was struck by a speeding vehicle while riding his bicycle, he sustained severe injuries. I allocated $10 from my transfers to assist with his hospital expenses. Additionally, I spent $58 on food for my family of nine during the holiday, and we had a wonderful time, thanks to the financial support. I also bought three iron sheets to repair the dilapidated roof of my village house, and I'm grateful for the assistance it provides. Furthermore, I acquired a hen for $4, but unfortunately, it died from Newcastle disease. Nonetheless, I look forward to owning hens in the future.

I aspire to venture into livestock rearing, which I believe will contribute to my financial growth. Currently, I have nine goats, and I am determined to continue expanding this number. This effort aligns with my goal of building a stable source of wealth for my family's better future. For so long, my family has been depending on my son, who works as a hawker. Owning livestock will allow me to contribute to the household's needs as well as lift the weight off my child's shoulders.

Upon receiving the money, I used $15 to pay the school fees for my four grandchildren. This financial support was crucial, especially since their father, who works as a hawker, was struggling to gather the funds at that time. The payment allowed my grandchildren to return to class after being sent home due to the unpaid fees. I am happy that they continued their studies until the holiday break. Out of the remaining amount, I also spent $6 to buy a khanga, as I did not have one of my own. The ones I had bought many years ago had all tattered and I thought it was best to buy a new pair. I was also not comfortable that I used to borrow from my daughters whenever I needed one. After that, I channeled the remaining amount toward purchasing food.

My desire is to have a substantial livestock herd and a flock of hens. Due to my health status, I am unable to perform labor-intensive jobs, such as selling charcoal, which I used to do previously. This investment would provide me with a new opportunity to become financially independent and cease being overly reliant on my son's support. Generating income would enable me to support myself and attain financial stability. My objective is to have the poultry project operational by the end of the year and be on the correct path towards earning a steady income from it.

Following my husband's passing, my son is the only person I rely on for financial assistance. My health has recently declined, rendering it impossible for me to work and earn money to support myself. My son bears a significant burden in caring for both his family and me, as he earns little from his part-time jobs. This has led to my grandchildren being sent home due to outstanding school fees, as my son's finances were primarily directed towards paying my medical bills while I was ill. As a result, I used $10 of my April transfer to pay off the school fee debt, allowing my grandchildren to take their exams. Additionally, I spent $14 to purchase a new pair of clothes, as I only had two worn-out and ripped pairs, and it was necessary to buy a new pair so that I can look presentable. Lastly, I saved $10 with the aim of investing in hens for a poultry farming project. I plan to start this project as a source of income, given that I cannot work on labor-intensive jobs anymore due to my health.

My health issues made it difficult for me to make smart investments with the money from the transfers. I devoted a significant amount of time and money to finding medical care, but thank God I am better and my condition has improved. I intend to use the funds this year to start a small kiosk business where I will sell silver cyprinid and other food products like maize and wheat flour. This will increase my likelihood of achieving financial stability and relieve my son of the demanding responsibility of caring for me.

Stomach ulcers have put me down for the past two months and it has been difficult to do any household chores. So, I have been staying at my son’s place ever since, where he could keep a close eye on me. For that time, he has been my sole provider and caregiver as well. It breaks my heart that the cost of my treatment has strained alot on his vegetable-business, pulling the stock down. The cash transfer came as a huge relief because it would help pay for my medication and boost my child’s business. I spent $20 on the hospital bill and used the rest on buying more stock for the business. My health is gradually stabilizing while the business is progressing well; I could never be more grateful. 

Immediately after receiving the money my concern was to sort out matters concerning nutrition, therefore I ended up using KES 1,600 and bought a bag of maize flour which contained a dozen packets. Afterwards I used KES 1,000 and paid someone to help me from my land. I ended up remaining with KES 400 which I decided to purchase two hens since wanted to invest in poultry farming.

I am very grateful towards GiveDirectly especially for the help I have received financially. Ever since my husband passed, making ends meet became a challenge since I barely made enough money to sustain my needs from making charcoal. Luckily this organisation came to the rescue and has helped me tremendously and left me with no complaints.

After receiving the money I first decided to buy a cooking pot for KES 400 and food storage bowls also worth KES 400, this is because I barely had any of these material in my kitchen and on most occasions I had to go ask my neighbours with their cooking pots in order for me to prepare a meal. It was embarrassing most times and such and inconvenience on both ends because at times my neighbours were in need of their own items. Soon as I was done buying the pot, I went on and used KES 1,560 and bought a bag of maize that contained a dozen packets because there was barely any food in the house since I had not been making enough money from making charcoal as I normally did. I was left with KES 640 which I used to pay a veterinary doctor who came to vaccinate my goats.

I was sitted at home that morning when the message arrived confirming that the money had been sent from GiveDirectly. To say I was excited would be an understatement because I felt so happy due to the fact that I did not expect it at all. Plus most times I work in the farm chopping wood for charcoal so I was glad I would rest for a couple of days before I went back to doing that tedious job.

This funds have not yet created that much difference in my life but there has been some changes. For instance through the transfers I too can help my family unlike most times where I received most help from them an example was being able to pay school fees for my grandkids at a time where the parents were incapable to do so, because God knows how long they would have had to wait before they went back to school.

After I received the money I went ahead and paid school fees for three grandchildren since they had been kicked out of school two days prior to receiving the money. I paid KES 400 for the three of them because during that time the parents had no money and the kids were missing classes. I was left with about KES 800 where I used to cater for nutrition so I went ahead and bought six packets of maize flour and two kilogram of beans because there was barely any food left in the house.