What a feeling of pain as a parent to have your daughter out of school for a whole month due to a lack of school fees! This has exposed me to a lot of stress because I do not have the money to support her. In addition, I have a son who completed form 4 but is yet to collect his results because he has a balance of $40 only. The arrival of GiveDirectly acts as a sigh of relief to me since I will be able to clear the school fee arrears for my daughter which at the moment stands at $200. This will give her ample time in school to concentrate in class. I will also help my son to collect his results to enable him to join a college and get the basic skills he desires. This will help him stand a chance of securing a better job. The estimated cost for all this goes utmost $300. Since I do not have a reliable source of income, I desire to venture into livestock keeping, a project to depend on in the future. To start with, I will spend $200 to buy 5 goats. The remaining amount will help me to cater to some basic needs like food and clothes.

What a feeling of happiness as a mother to receive a surprise from your son! Very recently, my son visited me and upon going back, he gave me $5 as a gift. Although this amount seems to be small, I was so happy since I did not expect it considering the high cost of living we are currently going through. It was all smiles on my face to find relief. I was able to buy 1 kilogram of sugar and washing soap. In addition, he also bought some books and a pair of shoes for his sibling. His support meant a lot to me because I am still able to get breakfast and also my clothes are now clean.

My main sources of income are charcoal and community health volunteer work. The CHV work is not reliable since my payment of $20 come after a month. This pushes me to engage in charcoal burning as my alternative job. Although it's time-consuming and energy-intensive, I have been doing this for a long time and I am currently feeling weak. Our combined efforts with my husband from this job earn us utmost $90 per month, which goes to food and supporting my 3 children in school. Since this income is low, my children have sometimes missed classes, a situation that has greatly affected their studies. This is a worrying circumstance as a mother and I always feel the pain of seeing my child at home.