Our financial situation, my husband's and mine, is currently challenging, and we have two children attending school. While my husband operates a tuk-tuk for taxi services in town, I sustain our income by vending foodstuffs. To enhance our financial stability and ensure a secure future for our children, I've ventured into livestock keeping, focusing on goats and chickens. Presently, I own two goats and 18 chickens, with the intention of expanding this livestock venture. These animals serve as valuable assets that can be readily sold to meet the financial demands of our children's education. By growing our livestock, I aim to create a reliable source of funds, enabling us to cover educational expenses when the time comes for our children to advance in their studies.

I've diligently set aside my recent transfers with the goal of acquiring a goat. After accumulating $55, I successfully made the purchase, marking the fulfillment of a longstanding desire to possess assets that can serve as a financial safety net. Initially having one goat, I now boast a total of two, with aspirations to foster their reproduction and establish a growing herd. Considering the responsibilities of supporting my young family, including children in primary school who depend on me, I recognize the potential challenges ahead. While my current income from selling chapati every morning sustains us for now, it may not cover all future educational expenses. My husband's income from motorcycle services, though helpful, isn't sufficient either. Therefore, the acquisition of livestock serves as a strategic advantage. In addition to the goats, I invested $4 in purchasing poultry, aiming to develop a thriving poultry project. Presently, I manage 18 birds, anticipating that they will contribute to supplementing our income. With a child starting school, I diligently saved a larger portion of the transfers over the past months to cover expenses such as new school uniforms and timely payment of fees. I am pleased that my children are comfortably enrolled in school because of the transfers since I saved enough for this purpose.

One of my long-standing aspirations within my current chicken rearing project has been to diversify my livestock endeavors, specifically by expanding into goat rearing. My goal is to gradually achieve this by constructing an additional shed and acquiring a new goat every month. Given that the cost of a goat typically amounts to around $30, I plan to initiate this expansion starting next month. This endeavour will present an opportunity for increased income for my family in the long run.

The GiveDirectly transfers have been a tremendous blessing to me and my family. With the financial support, I was able to make several important investments. Firstly, I used a portion of the funds to finally construct a proper brood for my chicken-rearing project, which I had been longing to do for months. This not only improved the living conditions of my 11 chickens but also set the stage for future expansion. I invested $20 in purchasing timber and other necessary materials for the construction. Furthermore, I decided to bolster my chicken flock by purchasing two more chickens at a cost of $970, which will undoubtedly increase my income in the future. Additionally, I used part of the funds to pay $5 in school fees for one of my children who had been sent home due to pending fees and thanks to GiveDirectly, I now feel a profound sense of relief and gratitude as I see my family's future becoming more secure and promising.

My long-term goal is to raise goats in my own herd. To do this, I am raising chickens right now and intend to keep buying more of them, which I will then sell once they are fully grown. The money will go toward the purchase of a goat. Goats thrive in our region and are rarely affected by the constantly shifting weather. Additionally, I want to expand my grocery business in order to raise revenue from it.

Currently, my family of three lives in a two-room home. Our goal is to make our home better by renovating it and adding an extra room that will be used by my children. I already spent $12 on ten building posts for this project. Using the subsequent transfers, I'll keep purchasing more materials. For an additional $13, I purchased four chicks for raising and some chicken feed. I then used the remaining transfers, $10, to cover the cost of my two children's schooling.

Since I've been a part of the program, my perspective has changed and my mind has expanded. I never thought I would own any livestock, but right now I think it might happen. I want to buy at least three goats to raise before the year is over. They give birth more quickly, and after another year, I will have more of them, which I plan to sell to raise money for a cow. With the cow, my family will have access to sufficient milk, which is beneficial for their health. We can also sell the extra milk, which will increase our household income.

The walls of my house were made of mud, and as a result of the continual rain, a portion of the wall eventually fell. While my partner drives a motorized rickshaw, I sell vegetables, but most of the time, the money we make from these sources goes toward our children's school expenses and meals. This made it difficult to purchase or modify a dream house. We were fortunate to get accepted into the program since it helped us out financially. I spent $60 on building supplies and labor for the house renovation using the transfers from the previous three months. It is currently sound and steady. I spent $20 on chicken feed and 4 hens to raise in order to increase my income. Aside from that, I spent the $6 I had left on family food. When the kids started school again for the new school year, I paid $16 to enroll them. Since I began receiving the payments, my business has expanded because I no longer utilize the majority of the revenues, allowing me to invest them in growing it.

In my opinion, unlike how other companies operate, GiveDirectly's approach is unique. It does so well in minimizing the possibility of favoritism by ensuring direct visitation to every potential household. For all who are successful, GiveDirectly does well in giving them unconditional transfers that they can use to meet their urgent needs. Consequently, I have experienced a tremendous improvement in my way of life since I could comfortably pay off my pending school fees. Similarly, all beneficiaries from my village highly appreciate GiveDirectly. In contrast, there is nothing that GiveDirectrly does not do well.

My husband does a motorcycle taxi business while I run a small vegetable business. In my family, we always experience a low level of income. Whatever we earn is always insufficient to cater to the educational needs of our three children. Immediately after I received my recent transfer, I spent $20 on paying part of their school fees. I am glad that for the past one month, all have been undertaking their studies comfortably. With the rest of the transfer, I also bought food. Although my family had not missed a meal, I was worried that the foodstuff available would not last us a day. Thanks to GiveDirectly for the timely help.

It was at 3pm o'clock, I was done with selling vegetables. Considering that not much was made in terms of sales, I did not make any profit thus diminishing my hope of providing adequately for my family. However, things took a positive turn when my phone vibrated indicating a message notification. I quickly checked it out and after noticing that it was an Mpesa message indicating that I had received the cash transfer, I was extremely happy and decided to call my husband and informed him of the good news. Ultimately we decided to withdraw the cash and buy meals for our family of four first.

The biggest difference in my daily life is having food in my house...I had bad sales and my husband also had no money since he had already told me that he did not have money's.. I was happy that my family of four people were able to eat well

Having a grate desire to renovate my house, I therefore did not hesitate to set KES 2000 amount obtained from the first transfer for buying timbers that will play a big role during the renovation process. Since it had been quite a while before my family of four had a decent meal, I therefore decided to go buy a well balanced food for them. I have been selling vegetables and my husband do operate a tuk tuk to make ends meet. I am grateful that GiveDirectly did cheap in and helped us grow economically.