In the coming year and beyond, my main hope is to construct a new house for my family. Our current house is old, worn out, and too small for all of us. Before I got sick, I had started buying some building materials, but I had to stop because of my health. Now that I'm feeling better, I want to resume buying the materials bit by bit. I believe that slowly but surely, I will gather everything needed to build a strong, bigger house. My dream is to see my family living in a safe and spacious home, and I am confident that with careful planning and persistence, this dream will come true.

I am a widow with seven children, and I rely on charcoal burning to provide for my family. Life has been tough, but the monthly transfers from GiveDirectly have been our lifeline. With the most recent three transfers, amounting to $102, I had to prioritize my health first, as I was unwell. I used $16 to buy the medication I needed to recover and continue taking care of my children. After that, I spent $42 on food for my family, ensuring that we had enough to eat for the month. It gave me peace of mind knowing that my children wouldn’t go hungry. Since my children are still in school, I used $34 to pay their school fees. Education is important to me, and I want to give them the best chance at a brighter future. Additionally, I decided to invest $10 in buying three more chickens, bringing the total number of chickens I now own to eight. This small step towards poultry farming will help us earn an income and provide a steady supply of eggs, helping to improve our family’s financial stability. These transfers have been a backbone for my family, helping us meet our basic needs and plan for a better tomorrow.

My goal is to gradually expand my poultry farm by purchasing more chickens using my transfers, while reserving my savings to eventually invest in goats. I believe in the power of these animals as assets akin to banks, as they can be easily traded for money when needed, providing financial security for my children's future educational needs. Moreover, I see my group savings as a means to realize my dream of building a home for my family—a plan that was initially derailed by unexpected emergencies and the allocation of funds towards essential expenses. Both chickens and goats serve as invaluable resources, not just for immediate needs but as long-term investments that can support my children's education and contribute to our overall well-being.

In pursuit of achieving something meaningful, I took the initiative to join a savings group, setting aside $30 from my transfers for future investments. Addressing immediate needs, I allocated $24 to replenish our food supplies when they were depleted, ensuring my family's well-being. Recognizing the potential for growth and sustainability, I invested $14 in purchasing chickens, envisioning their multiplication as a stepping stone towards acquiring goats—a venture that holds promise for future prosperity. My children were wearing worn-out clothes, and it used to make me feel so sad. I therefore allocated $10 and bought my children clothes. They were very excited, and I was happy too to see my children excited over the clothes I bought them. However, amidst our aspirations, we faced the somber reality of losing a cherished member of our community, necessitating the use of $24 to cover funeral expenses. Despite the challenges, I find solace in the progress of my savings plan. Each step forward represents a commitment to a brighter future, filled with opportunities for personal and familial growth. With determination and perseverance, I am confident in the success of my endeavors, knowing that every effort brings me closer to my goals.

In the upcoming year, my primary objective is to augment my savings within the savings group and bolster my overall savings. I understand that the financial assistance will cease after five years. Therefore, the accumulated savings will enable me to venture into livestock investment, ensuring a sustainable income stream even after the aid concludes. By selling the multiplied livestock, I will establish a reliable source of income. I hold deep appreciation for the financial support I have obtained, as it has markedly enhanced the quality of life for both myself and my children.

Being a single parent, I bear the responsibility of meeting the needs of my three children. In pursuit of my goal to achieve financial stability, I became a member of a local savings group comprising 10 individuals, with each member contributing $10 monthly. I allocated $30 as my share in the savings group. When my turn arrives, I intend to utilize the funds to purchase goats, viewing this as a prudent investment for the future. The multiplication of the goats will provide the opportunity to sell some and address my family's needs. Additionally, I procured food for my family, amounting to $42. As a casual laborer, I encounter challenges in making ends meet; however, with the aid of the transfers, I managed to provide for my family. I also allocated $10 to obtain my son's birth certificate, a crucial requirement for his national examination. Furthermore, I invested $10 in acquiring three hens, foreseeing potential income through the sale of offspring or eggs once they multiply. I am profoundly grateful for the assistance provided by the transfers, as they have significantly improved the quality of life for both myself and my children.

The current one-room structure is becoming too cramped for my seven children and me as they grow older. I envision a more spacious house, even if it has just two rooms, where I can allocate some of my children to one room and others to the other room. This will provide everyone with the space they need and create a more comfortable living environment. Apart from the need for space, a larger house would also allow us to store the produce from our farm. As we are about to harvest, having sufficient space to store the crops will help us better manage our food and provide for the family during leaner times.

As a widow, I rely on charcoal burning to support my family, but my earnings are limited. However, the cash transfers have been a great source of support for us during challenging times. My primary goal is to build a better house for my family, as we currently face housing challenges. To achieve this, I have been contributing $10 to a merry-go-round club, hoping that the cumulative amount will help me acquire the necessary building materials. Additionally, when I received the funds, my two children had outstanding tuition debts, and I was worried they might be sent home from school. Fortunately, the money arrived just in time, allowing me to settle the debt with $10. I am delighted to see them progressing well in their studies. With food running out in the house, I used $12 to purchase more food for the family. Lastly, after a cat incidentally killed the three chickens I had at home, I used the remaining $2 to purchase another chicken to start rearing.

Having no one to support me in raising my children is tough since I lack a stable source of income for all their basic needs. At this point, supporting their education is the greatest opportunity  I can offer them to ensure they secure a brighter future. I plan to do this by continuing to save through the self-help group and rearing livestock to afford their school fees. 

When my husband passed away, I was left with the huge burden of providing food and school fees for our five children. To raise the money for these needs, I heavily rely on charcoal burning, an activity that is extremely physically demanding and that generates little earnings. As a result, affording food and school fees is mostly a challenge for me. I usually breathe a sigh of relief whenever I receive cash transfers because they help lift a significant part of the strain I bear. I spent $10 from the recent transfer to cover a school fee debt, for four children in primary school, that had been brought forward from last term. Since the household had run out of food that morning, I spent $14 on maize flour and other foodstuffs. I saved $10 through a merry-go-round club in my community. When my turn comes to receive the savings, I intend to spend them on school fees. Similarly, I saved $10 from each of December and November transfers through the same group. $24 went towards buying food during Christmas. From the rest of November’s transfer, I spent $10 on two chickens to rear and $14 on food.

unfortunately before I had received the funds, my kids had been out of school for over a week and the minute I realized that the donation had arrived I decided to go ahead and settle that debt in tuition by paying KES 1,500 for three of them. Apart from that, I ended up using KES 1,000 from the balance and bought eight packets of maize flour since the day prior to receiving the funds my family and I had actually gone to bed on an empty stomach. Lastly I decided to use the remaining balance of KES 500 to purchase two hens since I wanted to invest in poultry farming.

I spent a huge portion of my transfer on paying school fees and debt for my four children. A week ago school reopened for the second term after having a one-week break. During the opening day, my children were sent home because of school fee arrears from the last term. I had no money to clear the debt and this forced my children to stay home for two weeks without going to school. Upon receiving my transfer, I cleared part of the debt my children owed the school for them to resume their studies. Besides paying school fees, I bought three packets of 2 kg maize flour as food for my family because we had nothing left to eat. Finally, I bought a hen worth KES 400 with the aim of rearing and venturing into the poultry business.

Give Directly does an excellent job of sending monthly transfers. These regular payments give me the confidence to meet my family's needs one at a time. I am optimistic about the great changes that will occur in our household over the next five years as a result of the cash assistance. I don't see anything wrong with the way Give Directly operates.

My mother and seven children rely on me to meet their basic needs. Because I am unemployed, I make charcoal from tree stumps and sell it to make a living. Because of the low demand, I make at most KES 350 per week from the sale of one sack of charcoal. Since I have a heavy burden of responsibilities, I intend to use the transfers to address them one by one. As a result, I spent KES 1,000 on school uniforms for my two sons. I did this because their old outfits had become tattered (with large openings) and worn out over time. In addition, I spent KES 800 on food because the household had run out. I spent KES 200 to purchase two chicks for rearing. When these chickens reproduce, the flock will grow, increasing my sources of income for my children's school fees. Finally, I saved KES 1,000 through a self-help group with the intention of withdrawing the money when it reaches KES 20,000. I intend to use this lump sum to fund my house-building project. We are currently sheltering beneath a house with a leaking roof and crumbling walls that are deteriorating over time. My only option is to build a new two-bedroom house to accommodate our family of nine.

I can barely find the right words to express myself when it comes to how I felt seeing that notification on my phone that I had received the money. I was so overwhelmed with joy because my children were not going to school and this money just presented an opportunity for me to send them back. Four days is quite a long time for a kid to miss school but I am grateful and fortunate that they did not spend another day home.

As for me I would gladly say the financial support was quite transitional because money struggles are almost norm for me and my family, but through GiveDirectly and this program I have been able to come through for my family and provide primary basic needs when we are straining money wise. I most definitely see a lot of growth for us in the future.

My children had been home four days in a row without attending school before I received the money and would have probably stayed longer because I had no money at all to send them back. So when I got the financial aid from GiveDirectly I immediately went and paid their school tuition and used KES 800. The next day they were so happy they would not have to stay home another day longer. As for what was left which was KES 350 I used it to buy maize flour so that I could provide a meal for my children since the kitchen was completely empty and there was nothing in the pantry either.