I am a father of four children and currently work as a motorcycle driver. Our family lives in a one-room house, and I am determined to better our living conditions by expanding our living space to two rooms, hence providing my family with a better and more comfortable quality of life. By the end of this year, I aim to have started this project, although its completion will depend on the funds I can gather. To achieve this, I have been saving a portion of my transfers in our local savings group, and my plan is to continue saving a portion of the transfers I receive from GiveDirectly, along with some of the earnings from my motorcycle business. Completing this house will bring me immense joy, as it has been my long-held dream. Once the house is finished, I intend to redirect my transfers into a business where I will buy livestock from rural villages at lower prices. I plan to rear them for a few months and then sell them in the markets for a profit. This venture, combined with my motorcycle business, will help me comfortably provide for my children's well-being and education. I am grateful for this opportunity that GiveDirectly has given me and my family, and I am looking forward to the day where I will gift my family a new house.

My greatest wish has been to have my family living together under one roof in a two-room house that can comfortably accommodate us. To achieve this, I have made it my mission to save a portion of my transfers from GiveDirectly. Recently, I saved $40 from my transfers with the goal of using it to buy building materials for the house I’ve always wanted. Additionally, with three children in school, I spent $22 to pay their school fees, ensuring they can continue their studies without interruption. I also allocated $36 to buy food for my family since we had run out of supplies, making sure we stay well-nourished and healthy. Lastly, I spent the remaining $14 on clothes for myself and my children, as it had been a while since we bought new clothes. I feel great when I see my children happy in their recently bought clothes. I am also happy and grateful for the support that GiveDirectly has provided me and my family, as it is helping us move closer to our dreams.

I am a father of four children and currently work as a motorcycle driver. Our family resides in a one-room house, and I am determined to improve our living standards. My goal is to expand our living space into two rooms and provide my family with a better life. By the end of the year, I aim to have started this project, although its completion will depend on the amount of money that I will have. I know building a good home for my family is essential and will require proper planning which I'm currently doing.

Last year, I joined a merry-go-round where each member contributes $30 monthly. My aim is to save enough money to start my house building project. I allocated $36 to purchase food for my family,ensuring they stay nourished and healthy. Additionally, I set aside $12 in my personal account for easy access when my children need anything I can easily buy it for them. The remaining $24 was used to pay the school fees of my three children who are currently in school, ensuring they can continue their education without interruption.

I am now working towards my goal this year of having a new three room, tin roofed house. I will need about 30 sheets and I have already gotten 20 sheets. I have savings in my savings group that will enable me to take a loan that will go into paying for the mason who will help with the house. I anticipate that by September the house will be almost done. I will have more room as my children will have somewhere to sleep, we will also have a room with my wife and an area to entertain guests. We will no longer be sharing the house with our children which will some privacy for my wife and I as our children as growing up. Givedirectly have allowed us to live in dignity.

I never thought it would be possible to achieve my dream of building a home until I began receiving Givedirectly funds. I live in a one roomed grass thatched house with my family of 4 children and two adults. I am a motorcycle rider who got the motorcycle on loan and I was paying the loan as I also provided for my family. This meant I would rarely have money to spare to buy iron sheets and other building material. Thanks to Givedirectly transfers, I have been able to direct my transfers into savings towards this goal as well as buying roofing sheets which are the most expensive component in house construction. I have saved $30 in the recent months, I now have 20 sheets of iron with an addition of 2 sheets worth $20. I have also been able to cover other necessities in the house such as food which has cost me $23, school fees at $10 and clothes at $10.

My top priority is to replace my deteriorating roof, which consistently leaks during heavy rainfall, rendering my house uninhabitable. Additionally, I plan to expand the house by constructing two additional rooms to better accommodate my family's housing requirements. I'm pleased to report that I've already begun purchasing iron roofing sheets, and I plan to utilize the forthcoming transfers to acquire more of these materials. The prospect of providing my family with a larger and more secure home fills me with great happiness.

GiveDirectly has had a positive impact on my life, and through their support, I was able to secure my primary source of income – my motorbike. Over the past two years, my life has undergone remarkable transformations, all thanks to the financial assistance I received. I became a member of a savings club, dedicating a portion of my monthly transfers to it. Over time, I accumulated enough funds to purchase a brand-new motorbike, which I now use as a taxi to provide for my family of six. I am not only pleased but also deeply grateful that this program has enabled me to feed my family and send my children to school. Out of the transfers I received, I managed to save $64 in my savings club, which I plan to use later to purchase roofing materials to repair my deteriorating house. Additionally, I allocated $24 to purchase essential food and household items that were running low. The remaining amount was used to settle a pending school fee debt, ensuring my children could resume their classes. GiveDirectly has been a transformative force in my life, bringing about positive change not only for me but for our entire village.

My goal is to provide a spacious and comfortable living environment for my large family of 10 by owning a two-roomed iron sheet house. Currently residing in a small, grass-thatched house that is not in good shape, I am determined to improve our living conditions. To achieve this, I will continue to save diligently and aim to build the new house by the end of this year, once I have accumulated a sufficient amount of funds.

GiveDirectly provided me with financial assistance during my time of need. Given my lack of a reliable source of income, I was facing significant financial challenges. However, GiveDirectly stepped in and sent me the much-needed money. With the support, I was able to pay $10 for my two children's primary school fees, who were sent home and had to stay there for three days. Moreover, I purchased food worth $10.70 for my family, as we were struggling to make ends meet. Additionally, I saved $10 in my savings group, which will help me build a more secure future. I am immensely grateful for GiveDirectly's assistance and the positive impact it had on my life.

This year, my primary focus is repaying for the motorcycle I purchased on credit. Making full repayment will be a relief to my family and me. However, since my current house is small and leaky, I want to build a new, spacious one. Therefore, once I have paid off the motorcycle, my primary focus will be saving for building materials. A new house will equally serve my family well, and none of the children will have to face the challenges of walking at night to go and spend in the neighborhood.

My main source of income is motorcycle taxis. My wife, on the other hand, is a peasant farmer who is always at home. Due to the current drought, she has been unable to do farming. I make about $6 per day from the motorcycle taxi. That is the source of income I rely on to support a family of five. With my recent transfer, I spent $10 on saving. I am a member of a merry-go-round, and I am hopeful that when my turn comes, I will be able to use it to help offset the loan I took to purchase the motorcycle I currently own. I bought it on credit and planned to pay it off in full. I also spent $10 on food and the rest on school fees for my two primary school-aged children.

I am living in a small single-roomed house. It is grass-thatched, with mud walls. Even though it is relatively small, five people live and spend in it. Sometimes we are invenienecd because it forces us to squeeze. However, I have bought ten iron sheets, I am planning to acquire twelve more to build a spacious house. The house will offer accommodation to both my family and my visitors. Whenever I have a guest, I always take that guest to spend in my mother's house. From the balance of $6, I saved in a merry-go-round. From it, I look forward to receiving a share of $50 when my turn comes.

This is my third day as a motorcycle rider, where I make at least KES 400 per day.  Until two days ago, I lacked a steady source of income to meet my family's basic needs, such as providing food and funding for my children's education. As a result, hunger becomes the primary concern in the household, followed by children being sent home from school to collect pending fees. So, I used KES 2,000 from the transfer to buy enough food to last at least a week after we went without food for nearly seven days earlier this month. I a m glad we have never gone to bed hungry since then. In addition, I cut the outstanding fee balance for my two children using the remaining amount, who have since continued to attend school without missing any classes.

GiveDirectly is doing well in supporting us through this funds.Most of the people have started small projects like buying livestock, building and improving their homes through this funds.However it would be better if GiveDirectly gave us this funds in lumpsum so as to meet some of our immediate goals.

I am motorbike rider, currently separated from my wife and I was left with 2 of our children under my care.I live with my mother and my 3 younger brothers. My biggest challenge has been unemployment which is a struggle especially when am expected to support my family.I used KES 2000 on food and school fees respectively.Due to inconsistency of my job I saved KES 1000 for a rainy day.

It was around 9am in the morning, my phone was out of charge and I was just trying to switch it on when I saw the message from GiveDirectly. I was so happy because that day I had only KES 3 as my mpesa balance and I was stressed because I don't own a motorbike but I depend on leasing from friends and making as little as KES 300 per day which is only enough for food for my family.I shared the good news with my mother is also a beneficiary of the same support program. I was relieved for I was now certain that my son will be going back to school the next day.

The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving the transfers is I have several goals that I am planning to accomplish. Firstly I plan to build a 3 roomed brick house because currently I live in a one roomed thatched mud house.The current house is in poor shape and am praying that it doesn't rain soon because its unstable and the roof is damaged which can leak incase of heavy rains.I plan to have the complete house in 2 years time.Secondly with the little I make I plan to put a down payment of KES 15000 as down-payment to have my own motorbike payback in installments of KES 400 per day for a year to complete the payment.

I work as a motorbike rider and I have 3children .My wife left with my youngest child and am left with only the two children.My eldest is in grade 3 and when I received my transfer my eldest son was at home due to school fees arrears.I paid all the KES 1200 because I had a fee balance of KES 2000.