I have been diligently saving a portion of my income from my temporary job as a secretary, alongside the funds from Give Directly, with the goal of expanding my poultry business. The profits from selling chickens go straight into my savings, as I have ambitions to enroll in an accounting course and need to secure the necessary funds. To fulfill my dreams of opening a chemist and enrolling in an accounting course, I am committed to maximizing my efforts in my poultry project. In the coming year and beyond, I plan to focus intensely on scaling up this venture, ensuring that when the chickens are ready for sale, I can reap the maximum benefit. I am confident that with proper management of this project, I will be able to achieve my other dreams of starting a chemist and pursuing studies in accounting.

My interest in chicken-rearing was sparked by my sister-in-law's successful project. With the financial support from Give Directly, I was able to kickstart my own venture without worrying about the initial capital. Already having acquired the chicks, I consistently allocate my transfers towards sustaining the project. Upon receiving my recent transfers, I invested the entire amount in purchasing chicken feeds. Ensuring an adequate stock of food for my chicks is crucial, as it accelerates their growth and readiness for the market.

In the coming year, my aspiration is to establish a chicken butchery, expanding my entrepreneurial ventures. This venture will serve as a platform to market and sell the chickens I raise, thereby augmenting my income beyond the profits generated from poultry farming. The vision is not only to enhance financial sustainability but also to contribute to the local community by providing quality poultry products. By diversifying my business, I aim to create a more robust and resilient source of income, fostering economic growth and sustainability.

The monthly transfers enables me to establish a poultry farm specializing in raising broilers. With the recent transfer, I invested in 200 chicks, anticipating their sale after one week. The entirety of the transfer, $34 helped me to purchase quality chicken feeds while exploring potential markets for them. This endeavor has proven fruitful, consistently yielding a net profit of $150 every five weeks. The support has not only initiated a sustainable income stream but has also empowered me to actively contribute to the local economy through poultry farming.

My plan is to maintain a flock of at least 1000 chicks. Where I continue purchasing the chicks while maintaining the number and expanding my business. Additionally, I have a plan to venture into real estate by constructing houses for rent. This initiative is scheduled to begin with the construction of the first unit next year. To achieve this, I will leverage the sum I've saved along with a bank loan, combining these resources to make the project a reality.

I invested my July transfer in my business, by topping up $34 to purchase 200 chicks. Throughout my business journey, I have consistently allocated funds to invest in chicks that mature within 4-5 weeks, enabling me to resell them. The profits from these sales are then reinvested into the business, while an additional $150 is set aside as savings. This ideas took shape after I started receiving transfers. Previously I engaged in part-time work, harbouring a desire to establish my own business. This transfers provided the capital I needed to embark on this venture, which has now become a source of income. The earnings from my business not only support my family, including my mother and in-laws who reside with us, but also sustain my ability to provide for them. Despite encountering challenges along the way, I remain steadfast in managing both my business and family responsibilities.

My plan is to sell some chickens once they have fully grown so that I can generate a profit, which I will then use to open a chemist. Living in a community that is far from the hospital, I believe that opening a chemist will provide a valuable service and help people access the medication they need more easily. With the support of my family members, I am determined to make a positive impact in my community and pursue my ambitions of giving back to my society.

In December last year, I received my transfers from Givedirectly and used the money to start a chicken-selling business.When I started the business, I did not know how to do it, or where to start. I started with one chicken and I currently have four hundred chickens. The monthly transfers I usually spend to buy sack of food for them that will cost around $34 that will help me in feeding them. To ensure profitability, I make sure to keep track of my expenses and income, including other costs associated with running the business. By making informed decisions, I am able to continue to run a successful business and believe that with time I will be where I want to be and achieve all goals I have in life.

When I started receiving the transfer after the enrolment, I decided to invest the money in poultry farming. Therefore, I constructed a structure and kept broilers for sale. By the time I started, I faced some challenges but through them, I grew stronger. As of now, I keep up to 150 broilers at the same time. My goal which I would like to accomplish by the end of the year is to renovate the structure where I keep my 150 broilers to a bigger one which will accommodate at least 500 broilers. This will aid me to save for my further studies. Having completed my secondary education, my mother who is a housewife could not take me to college because there are my young siblings who also need her input. Based on that, I am optimistic that through the savings I will make from my investment, I will be able to take myself to college.

For a long time, I have yearned to own a poultry farm but financial constraints have always been a barrier. My passion for this course was born while I worked at my uncle's poultry farm. I gained enough knowledge and experience about the practice, which motivated me to start my own whenever a chance presented itself. The recent cash transfer from Give Directly climaxed that ideal moment I had been waiting for. I topped up the entire amount of money to the savings I had accumulated from my vegetable-selling business as initial capital. I am glad that I procured 102 one-day-old chicks alongside their starter feeds. There are no words to describe how grateful I am to Give Directly for making this happen for me. Am certain these chickens will have matured for sale in a month. I cannot wait to make my first profits from this endeavor.

Since March 2022, I have been running a grocery business. I was able to initiate this kind of business with part of the transfers I had received from GiveDirectly. When I received my recent transfer, I opted to pump it into my business. It has therefore created a positive impact on my life. I am so happy that from it I always receive a daily income of KES 500. As my business is continuous, I have opted to save part of its daily profits to raise fees for joining a college. I aspire to pursue a course in accounting options.

The diversified opportunities that the villagers are investing the transfer on are so amazing as everyone is doing what they feel is helpful and transforming for their households. I am happy I now have a business that I never believed I would ever own and people are now positive about life, there are no more conflicts that were a result of poverty. In my opinion, this is happening because GiveDirectly gave us the freedom of making our decisions on investment. There is nothing to complain about in our village, but we are grateful that this happened to us.

After clearing my secondary education, I was absorbed by the nearby school as a secretary. Since I have not any courses since then, I am planning to join college to further my studies so that I can get a well-paying job that will guarantee me a bright future. Whatever I am not much because I also have to support my sister-in-law who I am staying in her house. When I received my first transfer I used it to open up a small business where I sell vegetables and tomatoes. I could not afford enough stock with the first transfer therefore, I spent the second one on boosting it. I will be saving the profits from it so that I can add the much I will have saved from my current work and enroll in a college next year.

I was in school working when I received the transfer message and I couldn't hide my joy as I knew I was about to fulfill one of my goals.

The biggest difference is that I was able to start a business and I will now be able to save a higher amount than before. This has given me high hopes of joining college and achieving my dream.

Poverty has always delayed my dream of becoming an engineer and I have been fighting by all means possible to achieve my dream. When I graduated from high school, I was unable to join college because my mother who is a peasant farmer is a window and couldn't afford to pay my school fees as she has other eight of my siblings to take care of. I started working as a secretary in a nearby school to raise school fees but I couldn't save enough as I have to help my mother with family responsibilities. I have been longing to start a business besides my work to boost my income but I didn't have enough capital to start off. When I received my first transfer of KES 3000, I added it to KES 4000 that I had saved and I was able to open a local grocery shop. I'm planning to save all the profit that I will be earning plus the monthly transfers to be able to join collage in a year's time.