My house is on the verge of collapsing. The poles used in its construction are now very weak, causing the walls to lean to one side. This is extremely frightening for me, and I am deeply concerned about the safety of my family members because the house might collapse. I plan to allocate a significant portion of my upcoming transfers to purchase cement and building stones. This will enable me to construct stone-walled pillars around the house, making it stronger than its current state. This measure will ensure the safety of all my family members staying in the house.

We planted corn on our farm at the end of last year. The heavy rains washed away the corn we had planted. This left us without food because we had nothing to harvest from the farm. When I received my money, I spent $14 to buy food and corn flour for my family of ten. Last year, I was in the hospital for four months because I got sick. Since I am the only one working in my family, we struggled to make ends meet, so I used up my savings to pay the large hospital bill. I used my December money of $34 and some extra money from my wife's money to pay off the big debt I had. I still have a debt of $40 to pay, but I am happy that I am well and back in the village. At the beginning of this year, I used my January money to buy school supplies like books and pens for my seven children so they could go back to school. All the supplies cost $19. Moreover, I bought a new bag and a pair of shoes for my son, who was starting junior high school. I spent $20 to pay for my seven children's school fees, which meant they could stay in school and continue their education. I am very grateful for the financial support from Give Directly because it has eased my financial struggles and now I can take care of my family more easily.

My health took a severe turn, leading to a lengthy hospitalization that forced me to cease working. I had been employed as a carpenter, and as the primary provider for my family, I had no choice but to put my work on hold. I entrusted the responsibilities to my wife, which was an immense burden for her to bear. This situation could have disrupted my children's education since the funds that would have supported them had to be redirected toward my medical expenses during this period. Consequently, my wife had to divide her financial support among our seven children, leaving us with a substantial backlog of unpaid school fees that will take a while to clear. My aspiration is to utilize the financial support I receive to settle these overdue fees, and I'm hopeful for a swift recovery that will enable me to return to my carpentry work. My ultimate goal is to ensure that all seven of my children can continue their education without interruption and comfortably achieve their educational aspirations.

Over the past five months, I found myself hospitalized due to a rare stomach illness that severely impacted my ability to work. As a carpenter, I had been striving to make ends meet while also caring for my seven children and covering their educational expenses. Unfortunately, my health deteriorated to the point where I could no longer continue working, and I spent nearly six months in the hospital. Throughout this challenging time, I couldn't help but worry about how my wife and children were managing, as I had been the primary breadwinner in our family. Additionally, the hospital bills continued to accumulate, leaving me uncertain about how I would manage to cover my medical expenses. I am deeply thankful for GiveDirectly because their monthly transfers made an enormous difference in my situation. Despite the financial hardship, I was able to allocate these transfers to gradually reduce my medical bills each month. My wife, who is also a beneficiary of these transfers, selflessly set aside a portion of her support to contribute to my ongoing medical treatment. I was at a point where I was unable to walk or even eat. My fervent prayer is to fully regain my health, return to my carpentry job, and settle the accumulated expenses for my seven children's education, which have accrued during the period I was hospitalized.

My house is currently in a deplorable state. Due to termite damage to the wood, the walls are unstable. We are subjected to intense cold during rainy seasons because one side is also washed off by rain. Therefore, my primary goal is to make it better. I want to save money with successive transfers so I can build a bigger, larger house than the one I have now. That will enable me to have enough room for my kids' accommodations and spare them the hardship of sleeping in the neighborhood.

We have been suffering from starvation owing to the previous drought. Whenever I receive my transfer, I prioritize buying food and paying school fees for my six children. Unfortunately, I do not have a job except to engage in the strenuous casual work of burning charcoal. My wife also joins me in doing the same. I am glad that life is becoming better because I am always assured of some food every month courtesy of GiveDirectly's transfers. For instance, every month I spend $17 on food while the rest goes to paying school fees.

We have experience a long period of drought that turned our lad unproductive and made us very reliant to buying food. If the rain could rain we we could plant and harvest food which would mean the money would go into projects that would improve our lives such as buying animals which was something I am hoping to do this year if it rains. I wanted to also improve my house since its sort of falling apart. The poles that were used in its building earlier have been eaten by termites now the house is unstable, I know I am praying for the rain but if they fall without me doing this repairs then assuredly my house will fall. So I hope to repair it before the rains. I have bought some of the material needed but some more material such as poles are yet to be sufficient hence when I get to purchase them I will begin on this repairs.

This money in December got me when I was at a really low place in terms of food. I used the money for food during the festivities for food. My wife gave $10 and I gave $10 so we could be able to buy what flour, oil and beans and rice. we also both contributed $10 to which we used to buy clothes for the children for the Christmas period and we also got them shoes by both contributing $2.5 each. I was also able to buy a bundle of maize flour by us both contributing $10 which we use for our food daily. In January and February the money was mainly used at taking care of the education of my children. I bought Uniform in January at $10, I bought books for my three children at $12.6 and bought 10, 2kg bags of maize flour. In February I focused with my child in CBS I bought the child uniform for $12, I bought a bag for $10 and shoes at $5. I also bought the child books that were worth $6.

Give Directly has done well in giving out monthly transfers in this village. The funds have been a big impact on society, especially for the young men in the village who are unemployed and others who dropped from school because of financial issues. They all have either gone back to school and others opened a business that has been exemplary and admirable. This makes GiveDirectly stand out from other support organizations.

I have seven children and am a jack of all trades. Mostly with an interest in Carpentry, sometimes working on construction projects or charcoal burning. I am a handy, versatile person and my wife is a hawker who sells vegetables in our village. Drought affected us and with the cost of living going up, it has been a struggle for our businesses to maintain our lifestyle. My biggest challenge is all our funds have been used to buy food and pay school fees for our children at school. Leaving us with nothing to save and sometimes with debts and unable to afford to have all our children at school. I used $20 to pay the outstanding school fees and used the rest to buy food, which has been a challenge, especially now that we had nothing on our farms because of the drought

I was very excited when I received the first transfer especially because I have never benefited from any program before. I was out running my usual errands when I received a message confirming the receipt of that money. The money came as a surprise, and I was grateful because I knew it would help me pay for my children's school fees so that they could resume their studies.

Every parent wishes to see their children excel in life and this can only be possible when they get a proper education. As parents, we still have to provide the best for our children amidst financial challenges. I make and sell furniture but it is a luxury, locals have their way of surviving without it since it is not a basic necessity and thus the meager income. I am grateful that through the transfers, I was able to take my children back to school. I believe they will perform well because they will not be sent back home again.

I am a renowned carpenter in my village mainly because of my small workshop within the village. Being a place whose leaving standards are very low, the furniture we make is also of low quality. And because of the rising poverty levels, payment for the sale of furniture or repairs is also meager. We mostly leave from hand-to-mouth year in and year out. I have a large family of five school-going children all in the lower primary school, and they owed the school arrears which led them to be sent back home. With the first transfer, I paid KES 600 in school so that they could resume school. KES 2400 I spent on 24 kg of corn flour for the family. It is currently the most expensive commodity yet it is our staple food.