My accomplishment in the coming year and beyond is to commence the construction of my two-bedroom house. Having completed the purchase of 25 pieces of iron sheets, I am now focusing on purchasing building poles. With my subsequent transfers, I will purchase the remaining number of poles and immediately begin construction. I am very happy with the financial support I have received so far. I am just a step away from achieving my goal of having a permanent and secure shelter for my family. Additionally, after completing the house, I want to invest in the purchase of livestock. This investment will provide a stable source of income and act as a safety net in times of need.

My wife and I live in a makeshift structure, which was previously our cooking place. To prevent the chilly night weather and the sporadic rains, we have covered the roof with polythene. The dilapidated structure is what we call home at the moment as we plan to build a bigger, more comfortable, and permanent house for our family. As a casual laborer earning a living selling charcoal, the money I make is insufficient to purchase all the required building materials and build a new house. With the help of the cash transfers, I spent $52 to purchase four pieces of iron sheets. I currently have a total of 25 pieces, enough to cover the roof of a two-bedroom house. I purchased 38 building poles for $20. I am happy that very soon I will commence the construction of the new house and move into a secure and comfortable shelter. I spent $30 to pay school fees for all my seven children who are in school. My goal is to give them the best education so that they can have a good future ahead. I purchased two packets of maize flour and sugar all for $4. I am very grateful for the financial support. I will be able to build a new house to accommodate my family, something that was very hard to achieve with the little income I earned from my job.

This year, my main objective is to finish building my two-bedroom house. Our current living space is too small and it's uncomfortable for our family. Once the new house is complete, my family will have a safe and secure place to live, which brings me a great sense of relief and happiness. I'm grateful for the positive changes happening in my life and I look forward to a better tomorrow.

My wife and I support our family of ten by selling charcoal and extracting tree stumps. It has not been easy providing for our large family, as we have often lacked food and money for school fees, and we also did not have a safe place to live in. However, I am pleased to share that I am currently constructing a new, larger house for my family. From the transfers received, I used $34 to purchase iron roofing sheets for the construction of our new home. Additionally, I saved $10 through our local savings club and used $20 to settle a pending school fees debt ensuring that my children continue with their education. The remaining $38 was spent on acquiring three chickens and a goat, which I plan to raise and sell later. This assistance from this program has truly been a blessing, bringing me immense happiness and hope for our family's future.

My main goal for the upcoming year is to expand my current residence. The house we currently live in is insufficient to meet our housing requirements. I am pleased to announce that I have already begun the process of purchasing iron roofing sheets to fulfill this objective, and I eagerly anticipate starting the construction in the coming months. I plan to utilize subsequent transfers to achieve this objective. The prospect of having a larger and more comfortable home brings me a sense of accomplishment and pride, knowing that my family will be well taken care of in our improved living space.

Farming and selling charcoal have become my primary means of livelihood, enabling me to provide for my family of ten. Life was challenging in the past when we lacked a steady income to sustain ourselves. However, the arrival of GiveDirectly in our village has significantly improved our circumstances. Now, we can afford to buy food, send our children to school, and even start small businesses for additional financial support. The entire $102 that I received was invested in purchasing iron roofing sheets, and I am pleased to report that there are currently seventeen sheets in total. This quantity is sufficient to kickstart the expansion of my small and inadequate house, which is currently unable to accommodate my entire family. I am grateful to be a part of this project and eagerly anticipate achieving more progress in the years to come.

As the year draws to a close, my primary objective is to initiate and fund the construction of my new house. Establishing this home will not only provide me with a secure and comfortable place to live but also safeguard my property. To realize this ambition, I plan to allocate a portion of my monthly stipend towards purchasing the necessary building materials. Once the construction is completed, I intend to redirect the funds into acquiring livestock, which will serve as an additional income stream when I decide to sell them in the market. This two-fold plan will help me achieve both the stability of a new home and a sustainable source of revenue in the future.

After my house collapsed at the beginning of the rainy season, I found myself living in a makeshift structure. This small dwelling is covered with a heavy polythene bag at the top, leaving me exposed to the chilly weather and rain during the nights. To improve my living conditions, I decided to invest $17 of my July income in purchasing pieces of iron sheets. These will be used in the construction of a new two-room house. With the remaining $17, I prioritized the education of my two children in seventh grade, using the money to pay their school fees. During the rainy season, I mainly rely on casual jobs, such as selling charcoal, raising livestock, and farming. Unfortunately, these jobs do not generate sufficient income, and it has become challenging for me to provide for my family adequately. However, I am grateful for the financial boost I receive from my current income. It goes a long way in ensuring that my children can continue their education without worrying about the expenses involved.

I want to groom my compound with a nice spacious house and more livestock, so as to make it feel more like home. Seeing my family of five members share a one-room structure bothers me so much that I wish to build them a new shelter. Also, the bigger the house, the brighter the compound! Thanks to the cash transfers, I have started collecting building materials like iron sheets. Once I have assembled enough, I plan to start the construction process. After that, I plan to increase my herd of six goats and cows to ten cows and thirty goats. Owning this livestock would equip me with enough wealth that can help me generate money. 

My only source of income is making charcoal, which earns me approximately $40 per month. It is hard to get by and provide for my wife and three children with this amount given the rising commodity prices. Food is the only need I can mostly meet through my income; nothing more. For a long time, I had wished to build a more spacious house for my family but it had always been in vain since I lacked enough funds for the procedure. Gladly, the cash transfers revived my hopes, so I spent $28 from each of the recent three cash transfers on three pieces of iron sheets. I plan to buy these materials every month until I have enough to start building the new three-room house that I have so long desired. Also, as my household constantly runs out of food at least five times a month, I figured it right to spend the remaining amount on maize flour. 

The "Makuti" grass-thatched house I live in is in poor shape. I built the house with very flimsy poles. In the event of a severe downpour, I worry that the house will collapse because it is leaning to one side. My new objective for this year is to purchase 24 pieces of iron sheeting with the funds from my transfers. This will assist me in getting ready to build a larger, more roomy house for my family. I can't fully support myself while building a new house because my on and off jobs pay very little hence I am unable to save enough towards building a new house.

I have six children currently enrolled in school and raising their school fees has been my biggest challenge. Due to this, they were constantly sent home for lack of fees as I could not pay for them on time. I do not have a stable source of income and I mainly depended on burning and selling charcoal which pays less. I also used to do other casual jobs for a living but I had to stop after being diagnosed with chest problems. Receiving the transfers brought a huge relief since I am able to pay for my children's fees timely every month. I am assured that my children will continue with their studies without interruptions. In addition to this, I also managed to buy three goats that I am currently keeping. I am expecting that they will reproduce and through them, I will be able to educate my children. I also paid for my medical expenses when I was admitted and did some shopping on foodstuffs for my family. This ensured that we had enough food, despite the ongoing drought that hit us hard and unable to do farming for long, which has been our main source of food.

I have five school-going children. Although they are very bright they are always disadvantaged because they are always sent home due to a lack of school fees. Last week when they opened a school, they were sent back home. I am so glad that my transfer came when I was in dire need of money. It helped me to pay part of their school fees. From the transfer, I spent KES 1,700 on paying their school fees. I am optimistic that this term they will have ample time to study. In addition, I spent KES 1,050 buying maize flour while KES 250 helped me to buy a cock. I am indebted to GiveDirectly for its unconditional cash transfer.

Give directly has done extremely well when it comes to cash donations. This has helped in improving our lives, thereby meeting our family's needs. However, I feel like the funds are way too small for the projects we have in mind. So, if there's a possibility for one to request the money in bulk, it would be great.

I am a farmer and a charcoal manufacturer. In the farming business, I specialize in maize, cassava, and coconut. From this, I have been managing my family's needs. All seven children I have been in school. Monthly, I pay 4600 towards their fees. Last season during the droughts, I plantations never did well. Therefore, the last few months have been hard for me financially. I incurred arrears of KES 6900. To improve my business, I used KES 2500 to buy a goat. Then the remaining amount, I used to buy 2 packets of maize flour, 1/2 a kilogram of sugar, and 20g of tea leaves.

I was working at the farm when I got the message confirming the receipt of the transfer. I then went to my brother to check if he had gotten the same and he confirmed it too. I waited for my child to come back home from school. When she got home, she checked the message and I asked her to go and withdraw the money. The next day, I gave her KES600 to reduce the school fee arrears of KES2600 and whatever remained I used it to purchase some maize flour.

Being my first transfer, I have not seen much difference. But it has helped in reducing my debts, especially when it comes to the school fee arrears. My plan is to keep using the transfers to pay my children's school fees, buy some food and even do some house renovations.

Working as a charcoal manufacturer earning only KES2000 monthly, school fee payment for my six children has been a challenge. So, when I received the funds, I had accrued arrears of KES2600. I paid KES600 to reduce the debt and the remaining KES600 I used to purchase 6 packets of maize flour.