In the coming year and beyond, I have a dream I hope to achieve: expanding the rental house I own. This project will not only increase my income but also strengthen our financial stability. To fund this expansion, I’m relying on the monthly savings I contribute to our merry-go-round savings group through cash transfers, along with my husband's savings. Once the expansion is complete, I’m confident that the additional rental income will make it much easier to pay for my four children’s fees and meet their needs without struggle. I’m optimistic that I’ll be able to start this project within the next few months.

After receiving the transfer, the first thing I did was clear the fee arrears for my son, who is now in his first year of secondary school. I knew exams were approaching, and he would soon be sent home due to the arrears. Thankfully, the money arrived just in time, and he is now in class with his peers, preparing for his exams. For this, I paid almost $54, which has brought me peace of mind for the rest of the semester. As a tailor, I also used $20 to boost my business, which involves selling new clothes. The business is now thriving and generating good returns, unlike before. Additionally, I spent $8 on food and vegetables so my family could enjoy some good meals.I'm also part of a savings program, and I saved $20 with the goal of accumulating enough to renovate my house. My plan is to put in a concrete floor to eliminate the dust, which is quite bothersome.

In the next few months and years, I have some dreams I hope to achieve. First, I want to extend the rental house I own. This will not only bring in more income but also improve our financial stability. Additionally, I plan to make improvements to our own living house, adding some final touches to make it feel more like home. To fund these projects, I'm relying on the savings I contribute monthly to our merry-go-round savings group through the cash transfers, along with my husband's savings. This dream of ours will bring us so much joy and relief. Another goal is to increase our flock of goats. I've been unable to do this before due to the burden of school fees, but with careful planning and saving, I believe it's possible now. These aspirations drive me to work hard and save diligently for a brighter future.

I used $20 of the quartely transfer to restock my tailoring business, where I sell materials like deras, khanga, and vikoi. The little profit I make from this business goes towards supporting my husband in educating our six children. Another $20 was used to support my daughter who is in college, doing her community health attachment. With six children in school, these transfers have provided crucial support for their education, easing the financial burden on my husband, who is a businessman but doesn't always earn enough to meet all our needs. The remaining money was spent on buying food and essential household items for my family. I'm incredibly grateful for this support because it's helping to educate my children, and I hope that in the future, they will find good employment opportunities and be relieved from the strain of difficult jobs.

Prior to the intervention of GiveDirectly, I had purchased a piece of land but was unable to undertake any development on it. My aspiration is to construct a fully completed house on this land, a significant accomplishment for both me and my family that extends beyond the project's conclusion. To realize this goal, I plan to utilize savings from the merry-go-round and funds generated from my tailoring business, particularly during this bustling festive season. The positive changes in my life have been numerous, and I am sincerely grateful for the impact that GiveDirectly has had on my circumstances.

I work as a tailor to sustain my family of six children, all of whom are attending school. Although my husband sells plastic wares in Mombasa, his income is insufficient to meet all our needs. The assistance from GiveDirectly has been a transformative force in our lives. Utilizing the transfers to enhance our tailoring business has significantly improved its performance. From the received funds, I allocated $20 to purchase clothing materials that I plan to sell during the busy festive season, aiming to generate a profit. Additionally, $62 was used to settle overdue school fees debts for two of my children who had been sent home due to non-payment. I wisely saved the remaining $20 in a merry-go-round, earmarked for future development on my piece of land. This opportunity has brought about meaningful changes in my life, for which I am sincerely grateful.

Past transfers played a significant role in supporting my husband to construct a rental space at the local market. This collaborative effort, funded by his contributions and my saved cash transfers, has become a valuable income source for our family. Furthermore, I am motivated to enhance and expand my tailoring business in the near future. All this effort is to financially support the education of my children. I would be happy if they all completed college and am counting on the cash transfers to play a major role in that.

I manage a tailoring business in my village. Upon receiving the cash transfer, I realized that my stock of materials and lining was depleting. Some of the funds I had set aside for my business had been diverted to pay my children's secondary school fees. To replenish my supplies, I allocated $10 towards purchasing more materials, which helped restore my business's functionality. With the remaining $24, I acquired another goat, expanding my livestock holdings to a total of five goats. In my household, my husband and I care for six children, four of whom are actively attending school. We greatly depend on my husband's income, which he generates through a vegetable-selling business. Since his earnings sometimes barely cover the household needs, the cash transfers come as a great supplement.

I am excited to share that I have achieved my goal of expanding my clothing business, and I have to thank GiveDirectly for playing a key role in making it possible. It feels great to see my business grow, and I'm motivated to keep pushing forward.

Receiving unexpected income can be life-changing, and I was fortunate enough to experience this through GiveDirectly. With the extra funds, I decided to prioritize my family's needs by providing my child with $15 for boarding school and treating them to a mouthwatering chicken dinner for just $6. I was also able to purchase nutritious food to ensure everyone was well-fed. It's amazing how one small act of kindness can make a significant impact, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to improve my family's quality of life.

As of last December, I started to save my money because I plan on opening up and running a business. I plan on selling groceries from the comfort of my home and also different types of fish, which are common delicacies back in the village. This money will enable me to cater to the day-to-day needs of my family. My son also happens to be in school, so I intend on helping my husband with some of the bills in the house by settling his tuition fees because he barely makes enough money doing casual work. Nutrition is also definitely on my priority list, especially considering that the drought has had quite a negative impact on us.

My husband also owns a small kiosk in the same shopping center where I own and operate a small tailoring shop, Mnazimwenga. I experienced a surge in demand for my services toward the end of the year, but I was unable to afford to purchase additional clothing supplies to support the demand. When I received my December transfer, I spent $20 on new lining materials. Later, when I sold the clothes I made with the material, I earned $20 more. I spent the final $14 on food items in addition to expanding my business financially. I bought three packets of wheat flour, one of yeast, and some cooking oil. We had the chance to get together with my extended family to celebrate Christmas and New Year's. This was made possible by the funds that allowed me to purchase the food that we consumed while celebrating.

I currently have a son who is in form three, and because I do not have a steady source of income, paying his school fees has been a constant struggle. I have been lagging in clearing his fee arrears because he has two siblings in primary school and I am attempting to pay all of their fees. Despite my husband's efforts through casual work, we have been unable to comfortably support our children's education. So, when I received my transfer, I spent KES 1,600 on my son's fees. I also spent KES 1,400 on hens, which I am hoping will benefit my family.

In my opinion, the idea of giving everyone transfers without any condition was great. We are from poverty striven areas and, unfortunately, most children dropped out of school due to a lack of school fees. In as much we have only received two transfers but it is amazing how parents are motivated to enroll their children in school.

Immediately we started receiving the transfers we came up the seven of us and formed a rotational savings and loaning group where we are saving KES 1000 monthly. I have a child in college, two are yet to join while two are in primary school. I aim to use my shares in paying for their school fees. Currently, my spouse has taken a bigger share of it but the burden is too much on him since he does not earn much from the greengrocery business he operates. KES 1000 I gave to my son for his upkeep in college while the other KES 1000 I saved for later use in case of an emergency.

Though I am a skilled tailor, in recent times there has been very low inflow of cash since many people have not been seeking tailoring services. Alternatively, many have been focusing on buying food for their families. So when I received my transfer I felt overwhelmed with joy because I knew that I would be able to buy food for my family. This would actually relieve me from the pressure I had been passing through.

The major impact GD transfer has created in my life is relieving me the pain of providing food for my family. I had reached the point in which I was always unable to provide for my family. For countless days, my family had been missing some crucial meals a day, and this had bothered me so much. However, there was nothing I could do. For instance, my tailoring business could not generate just a KES 100 a day. I am glad that moving forward, lack of food will no longer be a major issue in the family.

From my transfer, I saved KES 1,000 which I shall use to pay off school fees for my children when schools reopen. This will make my burden of raising school fees easy since at the moment, I have been surviving from hand to mouth as a result of a lack of poor performance of my tailoring business. Moreover, I spent about KES 2,000 on buying food stuffs because what we had was insufficient to take us even for a day. I opted to use the cash for both food and savings for school fees because I did not have any reliable income generating activities. However, I am super grateful to GiveDirectly for offering me such a special support.