My current priority is to start a small business to ensure I can always meet my children's needs on time. I'm planning to open a retail shop, but since I lack sufficient capital right now, I'll be purchasing my stock in small quantities. Over time, I believe I'll accumulate enough stock to sell various household provisions, including cereals, detergents, and other non-food items. I've opted for this business venture because I currently rely on farming, which is unreliable due to unpredictable weather conditions.

I used a portion of my transfer, amounting to $40, to cover our chama contribution. Another $40 was allocated towards purchasing food to sustain our household, ensuring that we have ample provisions. As a responsible parent, I also allocated $20 to ensure that my school-going children's fees were paid on time. These financial decisions were pivotal for maintaining my family's stability and well-being. By managing my transfer effectively, I was able to fulfill our financial commitments and support my children's educational needs. This support not only enables the smooth functioning of our chama activities but also contributes significantly to the overall financial security of our household.

My main goal at the moment is to start a small business so that I can be able to always cater for my children's needs on time. I am planning to open a retail shop and since I do not have enough capital at the moment, I will be buying my stock in bits. I believe that with time, I will have enough stock and I'll be selling all the household provisions ranging from cereals, detergents and other non food items. I have decided to have a business of my own since I currently depend on farming and it is not realiable due to unpredicatable whether conditions.

With my recent transfer, I was able to purchase two goats at $ 68 as a way of investing these money. In addition, I saved $10 in our merry go round group that we formed after being enrolled to the program. From the remaining amount, I used $ 20 as transport to the hospital when I was expecting my third child and to purchase the items that were needed at the hospital and spent the remaining $4 on food for my family. The two goats are an investment to me and I settled on them since they increase in number over a short period of time. They will also come in handy when faced with financial struggles especially in paying school fees for my children when my husband does not have money.

In the coming year and beyond, my plan is to establish a shop or food kiosk as a reliable source of income for myself and my family. My husband and I have faced numerous challenges in providing for our family. However, ever since I began receiving the transfer, my focus has been on saving a minimum of $20 each month with the aim of starting a business. Additionally, I have been investing in goats, which I intend to sell in the near future to raise additional capital. I am delighted that I have successfully saved $160 so far, and I consider it a significant step towards achieving my goal. This progress fills me with hope and determination. Once I launch the business, I am optimistic that it will generate a steady income to sustain our family. This will also alleviate some of the burden on my husband, who sometimes struggles to meet household needs due to his limited income from odd construction jobs. The combination of my savings and potential earnings from selling goats will provide the initial capital needed to kickstart the business.

I used to work as a baker, and although my income was not substantial, I could manage our household needs without much difficulty. Unfortunately, due to health issues, I had to stop working, and currently, I am only engaged in subsistence farming. I rely on my husband for everything, from food to our children's school fees. However, his casual construction jobs are unreliable and poorly paid, making it challenging to provide for our family's basic necessities. Even buying new clothes for the family has become an unattainable luxury. When I started receiving the money, I made a commitment to save $20 each month with the goal of starting a shop. I have made good progress so far, saving about $160, and I am optimistic that I will soon be able to realize my dream of starting the shop. The burden of poverty has weighed heavily on me, and I believe that establishing the shop will significantly improve our situation. Aside from saving for the shop, I have also used a portion of the transfer to pay for my child's school fees. Despite our financial challenges, I am grateful that my child can attend school comfortably. Finally, I allocated another portion of the transfer to purchase new clothes for myself and my two children. This was a much-needed investment in our well-being, as having proper clothing contributes to our self-esteem and overall quality of life.

For this year, I have two main goals starting a business and raising livestock. I hope to accomplish both by the end of this year. Currently, I do not have any source of income, I am planning to use my monthly transfers to execute those goals. But I am hopeful that if I succeed in that, I shall be able to raise some money post my transfer period. In addition, the livestock will be able to give me some supplementary income, I will no longer struggle as I used to in the past years.

My husband and I do casual jobs to support our family. Both of our jobs are always on an irregular basis. Therefore, whatever we earn in terms of wages, is always relatively low to support my four-member family; two children, my husband, and myself. I am a member of a savings scheme. I had planned to start up a business. Though I have not started a business, I am hoping to do so soon. So with the most recent transfer, I saved $ 20 in a merry-go-round. I spent $10 on food, and lastly, I spent $4 on my child's school fees.

My main goals for this year and beyond are; to buy a goat, start my own retail shop business and also to educate my child who is currently in grade 1. My main aim was to invest in something that would generate income so that I don't strain financially when the project comes to a halt. To achieve this, I decided to save the little amount I receive, and plan to withdraw after a certain period to accomplish my plans.

My household had run out of food that afternoon before I received the cash transfer and my father-in-law, on whom we mostly rely, was yet to send more cash to restock the maize flour. Usually, he sends home $18 weekly to cover the household expenses, which mostly end up being spent on food. However, given the high commodity prices, sometimes the food does not take the five of us(my husband, two children and mother in law) throughout the week. So, I spent $10 on maize flour, and I am glad it lasted until the end of the week. Next, I saved the remaining $24 through a self-help group. I plan to continue saving the same monthly amount and obtain a lump sum enough to buy four goats once the group is dissolved next year.

Although I have withdrawn the entirety of my transfer, I have yet to spend it. Because we rely primarily on subsistence farming, which has not been successful, I believe that practicing livestock rearing could benefit our family. As a result, when I received my transfer, I chose to save it because I intend to start livestock in a way that will benefit all household members in my family. I currently only have one goat, but I plan to purchase more because they can thrive in our climate. I believe that by embarking on this venture, my family will make significant progress in three years.

In my observation, I think that GiveDirectly does well in issuing financial support to it's recipients. It works among the communities that are considered to be very poor. Through its enrollment stages, GiveDirectly ensures that only the members of the villages where it works benefit from the program. In addition, it does well in ensuring a smooth, transparent, and corruption-free enrollment process. In my opinion, GiveDirectly does not do well in subjecting other people to short-term programs.

For the past seven years, I have been living in a small single-roomed house. Its roof is made of old rusty iron sheets, thus it always leaks during rainy seasons. This worries me especially when I am away from home because a number of my items get rained on. Upon receiving my transfer, I spent KES 500 on buying 3 chicks, while I opted to save KES 2,500. I anticipate building up my savings and using them to build a spacious two-bedroomed house. This will be a big relief to my husband who despite being in the house construction industry, has been going for months without a job. As a result, he has been unable to buy materials for building his family a new house. With a new house, our life will change for the better.

Having one younger kid at two years, I was administering her afternoon meal when I received the MPESA text. I could not hold my joy and I decided to do the withdrawal later in the afternoon. I discussed with my husband on how to spend the funds as a family.

I was able to buy food for the entire household and now we cannot sleep hungry anymore. I have also been able to save for the future and the plans of building a better house as the one we are living in is currently not in the best condition especially when it rains, it greatly leaks.

Jobs and financial needs have been quite a hustle to my family. I currently am a housewife with no job at the moment and do the normal house chores daily. My husband works, though the menial jobs he gets are not on a constant basis. At times he goes a couple of months without a job and with our two kids to look after, it gets harder by the day. Receiving the KES 1200 brought a major difference to our lives as we were able to distribute the funds accordingly to uplift our lives. I was able to save KES 500 in a chama which at least I can be able to be advanced when need be and enable me to start a shop business and buy livestock. KES 670 was then spent on food supplements for the house as what was remaining in the store was to last us less than three days.