I have been actively participating in an informal savings group with 24 other members from my village for over a year. We anticipate that each member will contribute $3 per week, which will be directed to one of the member accounts until the cycle is completed. Throughout that time, I was able to pay for school fees, household items, and clothing for my children thanks to my savings. At the moment, I am working on a new goal: starting a maize-selling business where  I will buy dry maize in bulk and break it down into parts affordable to the local community. Since I will receive $72 when my turn comes, I intend to buy at least two sacks of maize to begin with and then reinvest the proceeds in more stock.

I am always grateful for the wonderful work that GiveDirectly does not only in our village but also in neighboring villages. The cash transfer we received allowed us to make informed spending decisions and addressed all of our home problems. Even though we were concerned about having to pay back, I am relieved that GiveDirectly's assurance has held up to date.

I have been living in old houses that I built more than five years ago with my family of six. We had built the walls out of mud and had to always repair them by filling the crevices with fresh mud. After receiving the second transfer, my family decided to renovate the walls by removing the mad and replacing it with timber. Despite the high cost of timber, nails, and labor, I am pleased that I was able to complete the walls for under $300. Even though the windows, doors, and wall painting are not yet competing, we have moved into a more decent room with stronger walls that do not require frequent repairs. I also spent $120 of the remaining funds on two sacks of maize at $50 each, as well as dry beans, which we have been eating in my household. In addition, I used the remaining funds to pay my daughter's school fees, who had just started ninth grade. Receiving this assistance gave me more time to work on my subsistence and livestock farming, which I had been relying on to raise school fees.

It was around 5 pm while in a merry-go-round meeting taking tea when we heard alerts on our phones. On checking, most of us had received KES 55,0000 from GiveDirectly. I was very and we all jubilated throughout the meeting. This was a lucky day for me because it was my turn to also get a merry-go-round monthly contribution.

The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving the transfers is the purchase of a dairy cow. This will key in school fees payment for my daughter who will be joining high school next year. Initially, I had one dairy cow which was bought after borrowing a loan. The repayment process was hectic but with GiveDirectly transfers my second dairy cow with ease.

I am a mother of four and have been relying on small-scale farming of beans and maize for household consumption. Since my firstborn will be sitting for her primary school national exams come the end of the year. There is a need to save towards her high school fees come next year. Therefore, when the transfers arrived I bought a dairy cow at KES 35,000 as an investment for her school fees. Secondly, KES 16,000 was spent on two bags of maize. This has helped reduce food expenses in my household, especially at this time of the inflated food prices when I should be spending KES 500 a day. Lastly, KES 10,000 was spent on the purchase of the latest clothing fashion which is of high quality. This is contrary to the low-quality second-hand clothes we could afford before.