This year, I set out to buy building materials to improve my house, which is made of mud. My goal is to reinforce it with bricks and cement to make it stronger and better able to withstand the extreme weather conditions in our area. I plan to continue using my transfers to purchase materials until I can complete the reinforcement. Once this is achieved, I will be very happy, as it has been my dream all along. Thereafter, I also plan to use my transfers to buy goats, hoping they will multiply and increase in number and value. This will allow me to trade them for cows, which I need for milk and for plowing my farm. I envision these cows multiplying as well, serving as a form of insurance for my grandchildren’s education. If necessary, I could sell some of them to fund their schooling.

The structure of my house is made of mud, which is not very strong and makes it vulnerable to strong winds and heavy rains and so I decided to reinforce it with bricks and cement to make it stronger so as to sustain the extreme weather conditions. To achieve this, I embarked on a mission to gradually buy building materials that can strengthen my house, as buying all of them at once was impossible due to their high cost. I therefore, spent $94 of my recent transfers from GiveDirectly to buy building materials, and I am happy about the progress I am making. Once the reinforcement is complete, I know it will have a significant impact on our home from the GiveDirectly project, as we will no longer face housing issues. Additionally, I spent the remaining $8 to buy food for my family, adding to what we already had in our stores.

My main goal is to purchase two cows, which will serve as a reliable source of income during financial difficulties and emergencies. Once I complete building my house, I intend to continue to save in savings group where we pool money together regularly. This way, I can save up to buy the cows. I am excited about achieving this because, in the past, I couldn't do it due to the lack of a steady income. Now, with this plan, I feel confident that I can secure a better financial future for myself and my family.

The quarterly transfers from GiveDirectly have truly transformed my life. I used $30 to install a solar panel for energy because kerosene is not readily available and expensive to obtain due to high transport costs of where you can easily access them is Mariakani. Another $68 went towards buying stones to continue building my house; I rely on my wife's transfers to also help with buying sand. Previously, we lived in a small, cramped space where my children often had to sleep at neighbors' homes due to lack of room. Completing this house will be a great relief and remove the shame of not having enough shelter for my family. Am a shepherd taking care of my neighbor's cows with no salary since I was paid a cow at the start of the contract but I sold it to cater to my child's school fees. By saving with Bamba Creep saving group motivated by these transfers, I've made significant progress towards building a home. Now that food is more secure, I'm using the transfers for other investments, marking a positive shift in our circumstances. The support from GiveDirectly has been valuable, and I'm grateful for the opportunities it has opened up for me and my family.

I want to construct a concrete skirting around my house, which is currently constructed with mud walls and tree poles. These walls are showing signs of deterioration, and the skirting will reinforce them, preventing potential collapse. As a herdsman, the little commission I earn from this job cannot fund the exercise which is why I look forward to utilizing the cash transfers. Besides, given that there is sufficient food from the previous harvest, I can allocate all available funds towards purchasing bricks to initiate this essential project.

Upon receiving the recent cash transfer, I contributed $20 to a merry-go-round group in my community, consisting of six members. This contribution granted me my share, which I used to purchase a mattress. Before this, I had spent $34 on acquiring a wooden bed since I had been sleeping on wooden cartons. Now, with the addition of a mattress and a bed, I am delighted to have a comfortable sleeping space. I set aside $14 for the school fees of my grandchildren, particularly for one who is about to enroll in kindergarten. This financial support is crucial as their father lacks a reliable source of income and has been struggling to keep the other two in school. Additionally, I invested $34 in buying a goat, to sell the offspring to cover college tuition fees for my daughter, who recently completed high school. As a herdsman, tending to the livestock of others in the village, I am profoundly grateful for the positive impact of the cash transfers, enabling me to improve my living conditions and invest in livestock.

Having achieved the goal of building a house and acquiring proper bedding with the help of previous cash transfers, my next focus is on acquiring livestock. Specifically, I am aiming to buy a female goat, as I believe it will reproduce and help expand my wealth. In the past, I could not save up for livestock because I was prioritizing building the house and meeting other immediate household needs like food and school fees. Now that the house is complete and we have a harvest coming in from our farms, I see an opportunity to invest in goats. I am hoping to buy at least three goats and let them reproduce.

When I was first enrolled in the cash aid program, I did not have a house, but the previous cash transfers allowed me to build a new three-room house and even buy a decent wooden bed. The only thing I was missing was a mattress, so I used $20 from the recent transfer to purchase one. Before, I used to sleep on a rough sisal-twined bed, which was quite uncomfortable. Now, I am grateful to have a more comfortable bed. The rest of the money went towards buying food. Since our crops had not been harvested yet, food was still a challenge to obtain. To fend for myself, I take care of someone else's livestock, and in return, they provide me with some money. However, this income is not enough to fully support my two school-going children and two younger grandchildren, whose mother is also struggling to find employment. I am happy that the cash transfers play a crucial role in allowing me to provide for the basic needs of my family.

I am happy to share that, I was able to achieve my dream of building my own house and investing in goats, all thanks to GiveDirectly! With their support, I was able to make this a reality and secure my financial future. I'm excited to start generating income from my goats through milk, meat, and offspring, and saving money for future use. Of course, it's important to have a solid plan for managing and caring for my goats to ensure their health and productivity. Overall, I'm grateful for this opportunity and can't wait to see what the future holds for me and my loved ones.

The money I received from GiveDirectly, I invested in a goat for $32, which has already proven to be a great decision. With the goat, I now have a sustainable source of milk that will significantly reduce my daily expenses. In addition to the goat, I used the remaining money to buy some food for myself. I am grateful for the support from GiveDirectly, which has made a meaningful impact on my life.

There are no enough words to thank Give Directly for allowing me to complete my house construction project and buy a bed and mattress through the transfer. Now my focus is on acquiring livestock, specifically goats for rearing. I have been looking after people’s livestock as a job for a while, and I feel it is perfect time that I owned mine. Come early next year, I envision to have raised at least ten goats. After that, I will start saving towards erecting a concrete pillar around the mud walls of my house to reinforce them.

In April of this year, my eldest daughter completed her secondary education. Since she began attending school, we have been sharing my one-room mud house with her. My wife, daughter, and I all live in the same home, and now that she is old enough, I feel that we have no privacy. Since I began receiving my transfer, I chose to purchase iron sheets with the intention of eventually constructing an additional room for my daughter. I recently bought one piece of iron sheeting after getting my transfers. I gave the mason his money, and he started erecting the roof using all the iron sheets I had previously purchased. My daughter is currently residing in the new home, and I am relieved that she feels secure and that her privacy has been preserved. In addition, I spent $20 getting my land ready for planting. Since it had been a while since we had heavy rains, I was tempted to prepare the land and plant maize, which is our main source of food. I'm hoping for more rain so we'll have plenty of food when harvest time comes around.

I earn a living through raising of livestock for other people. When the drought began three years ago, it was the beginning of my troubles. All the livestock I raised died of hunger and I became jobless. Before I lost my job, I had begun the process of building an extra room for my seven children. My one - bedroomed house was tiny to accomodate us all. It forced some of my children to seek accomodation from neighbours and friends. When I started receiving my transfers, I bought two pieces of iron sheets that would be used to build the new room. Currently, I have accumulated twelve pieces which are enough to fully cover the new room.

In my opinion, the selection of the beneficiaries by GiveDirectly was fair. No one was left out and this has led to a great transformation of our village. Most of us did not have a reliable source of income, and we could strain to put food on the table which is not the case anymore, courtesy of the transfers. There is nothing the organization is not doing right but my prayer is they help more deserving people the as they have done to us.

I have a daughter who recently completed secondary education, but she owed the school KES 5000. I, therefore paid KES 1500 to reduce the arrears. I am hoping to clear the remaining balance soon so that she can be given her result slip and certificate. KES 1000 I used to buy a piece of an iron sheet which I will use to construct the extra room. The current house has two rooms which we share with our children. They are now grown-ups and it is not comfortable to sleep in the same room with them. I will, therefore, be purchasing two pieces of iron sheets whenever I receive my transfers till I achieve the target of 12. The remaining KES 500 I spent on a few foodstuffs for my family. I am thankful for the support because the KES 200 that I occasionally earn from helping people out on the farm could not afford all that I have achieved with the transfers.

I did not have any work to do on this day. So, as I was resting at home when I got the message confirming that I had received funds from give directly. I was filled with so much gratitude especially to God for the favor. The first thing that came to my mind was to clear the debt I had with the tailor who sewed some uniforms for my child. She was about to do her final exams in secondary school and I wanted her to be confident. The ones she had previously were old and torn.

I have four children, three of whom have their own homes while the last born (daughter) still lives under my roof. The house we live in has only two rooms and one bed. Since it's not recommendable for one to sleep on the floor, I normally send her to sleep at her grandmother's place. It is in my plan that I add another room and a bed. I also would like to revive my livestock farming business. Which I stopped after they all perished. I just bought two chickens. When I get more funds, I will be purchasing a goat every month until I acquire six. I will then rear them so they may reproduce and multiply numbers. After which I will sell some so, I may purchase a cow. These funds will aid me in progressing financially.

Other than being a herbalist and a charcoal manufacturer, I am a livestock farmer. I used to have 8 cows, 5 goats, and 10 chickens. Unfortunately, they all died. The poultry was due to an ailment, as for the cows and goats, it was due to the droughts. This reduced my earnings and I lacked the funds to buy some uniforms for my child. I, therefore, requested the tailor to sew it on credit. When I got the funds from give directly, I cleared the debt. I then bought two chickens to revive my farming business and some food for the family as we had run out of it.