I aim to repair the roof of my house. Some of the iron sheets were blown away by strong winds leaving an opening that lets in rain water. Besides, some of the iron sheets have corroded over time. I aim to replace them one by one, as I cannot afford to collectively buy the materials at a go. I also want to start rearing goats. Come June, I wish to have started buying the goats. I believe that owning livestock is the perfect way I can raise school fees for my four children who I was left with when their father passed away. I hope to achieve these goals through the help of cash transfers.

One of my children joined junior high school in January. However, at that time, I was not able to raise funds for the required school materials like uniforms, bags, books, and shoes. He would use the materials that he obtained from the previous school, which were not applicable. Also, his elder brother, who progressed to the eighth grade, lacked the necessary books for this grade. As a result, I utilized $68 to cover these needs. They are happy because their studying experience has become easier. I also spent $34 for Christmas celebrations, such as buying celebratory foodstuffs like wheat flour, and bought clothes for my four children that they wore on that day. Being a widow, the cash transfers have been instrumental in covering school expenses. Nothing gives me more happiness than seeing my children stay in school, as this was not the case before the cash transfers. They no longer miss out on school, as their school fees and expenses are covered by the transfers. Also, the funds have allowed me to take a break from charcoal making, a practice that I had taken up to provide for my children after my husband passed away.

In the coming year, I plan to repair the roof of my house. Over time, some of the iron sheets have rusted and developed holes, allowing water to leak in when it rains. I intend to buy at least eight new iron sheets to replace the damaged ones. I am aware that my income from making charcoal won't be sufficient to cover this expense. Therefore, I plan to set aside some funds from future transfers to make this necessary repair. Once the roof is fully repaired, my next goal is to start raising goats as a means of accumulating wealth. Even after the cash transfers end in a few years, I believe that raising goats will continue to grow wealth for me, and I may sell them to support the education of my three children.

When I began receiving the cash transfers, my primary goal was to use the money to pay for my three children's school fees. Every month, I made sure to allocate a portion of the funds to cover their educational expenses. However, I recently faced a situation where I needed to use the cash for a different purpose. My son had an accident involving a grain getting stuck in his nostrils, which required medical procedures. I used $30 from the cash transfers to cover his medical expenses, and I'm relieved that he is now recovering well. From the other two cash transfers, I directed $38 towards paying off school fees for my children, ensuring that their studies were not disrupted due to unpaid tuition balances. Additionally, I spent $6 to buy a pair of ‘khanga’ for my son, as his beddings were torn and could not provide adequate warmth. The remaining funds from the cash transfers were used to buy food, ensuring that my family never went hungry. I am immensely grateful for the cash transfers because they have allowed my children to continue their education, and our household rarely experiences food shortages as we did before receiving assistance from GiveDirectly. As a widow, the money has significantly relieved the financial burdens on my shoulders, even more so than my charcoal-making practice.

There is nothing that would bring me greater joy than seeing my three children complete their primary and high school education. It would break my heart if they were deprived of learning opportunities due to a lack of finances to pay for their tuition fees. I firmly believe that education is the key to driving our family out of poverty, and I am willing to invest every penny I receive in supporting their education. As a widow who relies on charcoal making for income, I am not confident that this practice alone will be enough to see them through their educational journey. Therefore, with the assistance of the cash transfers, my hope is not only to finance their studies but also to establish a more stable source of income for our family's future.

As a widowed mother with no support, I have had to rely on charcoal making as a means of providing for my family. However, the income I generate from this activity is often insufficient, and there are days when my family goes to bed hungry due to lack of funds. This financial struggle makes it extremely challenging to support the education of my three children, putting them at risk of being sent home from school. In fact, prior to receiving the recent cash transfers, my children missed three days of school because I couldn't afford to pay their tuition fees. That's why my top priority when I receive the cash transfers is to cover their school fees. From this month’s funds, I allocated $29 towards their education, and I'm relieved to see them happily back in class and able to take their mid-term examinations. Additionally, I used the remaining $5 from the cash transfer to provide food for my children and myself, as we had slept without eating anything the previous night.

My future goal is to educate my children to a level that they would want to. I would want to see them continue with their education and in the future get better jobs that could help sustain them. To achieve this, I would ensure that I spent most of the transfers on paying their school fees and on any other items required at school for their smooth learning.

I received the transfers at a time I was in dire need of money. I had a child who was joining junior boarding high school and 2 who are still in primary school and owing to the fact that I am a single parent, I had to ensure that I try as much as possible to cater for their needs since I have no one to assist me. Therefore with the transfers that I received, I ensured that spent the entire amount of KES. 3470 on buying books, uniforms, school bag and other required school items to enable her to get admitted to the new school. I felt so grateful for the support.

I have been the sole breadwinner in our family of seven since the death of my husband. I am a mother of six children, three of whom are in school. To support them, I always do the difficult work of making and selling charcoal. Unfortunately, the profits from this venture are always low and cannot cover all of our family's expenses. Paying my children's school fees had proven difficult. I immediately spent $20 on school fees for my three children, Halima, Selina, and Jackson, after receiving my transfer. They had been sent home to pay their fees. I am glad they must study hard. I borrowed money and topped it up to buy a mattress because I did not have one. I didn't have one, so I slept on a heap of clothes.

Education for my children is quite important for me, but unfortunately after my husband passed away it became very hard keeping all my children in school especially since I make a minimum wage. But my spirits have been lifted ever since I got enrolled to this program because I get extra money in order to ensure all the essentials are present for my kids especially their education. Therefore in my opinion GiveDirectly is doing an amazing job.

Nutrition has been quite a huge ordeal for my family and I especially due to the prolonged drought that we have been experiencing that's gone over a year. Therefore when I received the transaction from the organisation I decided to sort out matters concerning with our nourishment. I used KES 1,000 in purchasing several packets of maize flour and kilograms of beans. As for the balance of KES 2,000 I opted to pay school fees for my three children because I was the breadwinner in my house ever since my husband passed on and my kids were on the verge of being kicked out of school.

I was filled with so much excitement as soon as I received the funds because I was completely broke and I feared how I would face my kids when I told them that they would have to go to bed hungry. GiveDirectly could not have picked a better time to send the money if you ask me.

In my opinion it would definitely be nutrition because we frequently ran out of meals and going to bed hungry was almost normal for us and I hated it. But now I can rely on the funds to ensure that we always have something to eat. I am definitely grateful for the opportunity.

Drought has really impacted us back on the village in the worst way possible especially having in mind that most of us relied on the harvest to feed our families because we are subsistence farmers. That is why as soon as I received the money I went on and bought six packets of maize flour for KES 870 and then used the remaining KES 300 and bought a hen since I wanted to begin poultry farming.