My spouse and I rely on casual jobs with little pay here in the village to support our seven children. Five of them are already in school, while the two youngest have not yet started. When I received my most recent transfer of $102, I had no other priority but to spend the entire amount on their school fees. I am deeply committed to my children's education because I don't want them to miss classes and fall behind. Education is essential in today's world, and I know that a good education will ensure they have a brighter future and can take care of their own families. I am very grateful to GiveDirectly for the financial support. With their help, I have been able to pay my children's fees promptly, ensuring they are not sent home for lack of payment.

Although I have a small portion of land to inherit from my parents, I long to have my own piece of land. I recently acquired a piece and started paying for it in smaller installments; I have a balance of $550 remaining. Once I complete the payment, I will be very happy to have something to call home. Currently, I reside on family land, but it's not a situation I feel entirely content with. I yearn for the independence and security that having my own piece of land would afford me. With this land, I envision building a house for my nuclear family, a place where we can thrive and grow together. It's more than just a structure; it's a symbol of stability and a foundation for our future. I am determined to work diligently towards this goal, saving every penny and exploring every opportunity to make it a reality. Having our own place would not only fulfill a personal dream but also provide a sense of belonging.

On receiving the cash, I immediately saw it as an opportunity to invest in our future. Allocating $34 towards purchasing a goat seemed like a small step, but I envisioned it as the foundation for greater things to come. With careful breeding and management, I aimed to grow my livestock holdings, eventually exchanging them for a dairy cow and a bull. This strategic investment would not only secure a sustainable income but also provide stability for my family's future. Amidst my plans for the future, I faced a health challenge. Diagnosed with malaria, I was grateful for the assistance of translators who facilitated access to quality medical care. The funds allowed me to prioritize my health, ensuring I could recover and continue providing for my loved ones. Prioritizing education, I allocated $52 towards school fees and new uniforms for my son, ensuring all four of my children have access to quality education. The sight of them in their new uniforms fills me with pride, knowing that they have the opportunity to learn and grow. With the remaining funds, I addressed essential household needs, finally filling the gaps in our pantry with food, stocking up on vegetables, and replenishing our supply of soap. This cash transfer has been a lifeline, empowering me to make strategic investments in our future while meeting immediate needs, and for that, I am profoundly grateful.

My foremost aspiration is to attain ownership of my own parcel of land, a place I can proudly call home. Currently, I reside on family land, but it's not a situation I feel entirely content with. I yearn for the independence and security that having my own piece of land would afford me. With this land, I envision building a house for my nuclear family, a place where we can thrive and grow together. It's more than just a structure; it's a symbol of stability and a foundation for our future. I am determined to work diligently towards this goal, saving every penny and exploring every opportunity to make it a reality. Having our own place would not only fulfil a personal dream but also provide a sense of belonging and permanence that is invaluable to us.

I have been working as a motorcycle rider for one of my neighbors. Usually, I am expected to give the owner $4 per day after fueling and the remaining amount becomes my salary for the day. Sometimes, I end up making making due to hard economic times which at times forces people to walk instead of using motorcycles. With my most recent transfers, I saved $60 in our savings group with an aim of buying a motorcycle on higher purchase terms. I settled on this so that I can stop working for other people. In addition, I used $28 to purchase a goat for rearing, used and used the remaining $14 on food and other basic needs for my family. The goat is an investment that I can easily sell in case of an emergency. With the transfer that I received this month, I am planning to use it on the purchase of school uniforms for my child who will be joining junior secondary school soon. I would have already purchased the uniforms but there's some dialogue still on going at the school whether they're changing the school uniforms or the previous ones will be maintained.

Before the end of the year, I hoping that I will be a motorcycle owner. This is because I am planning on purchasing it on loan so that I can be paying for it in monthly installments. I will be using my transfers and the earnings from this business to pay for it this year. By next year, I will focus my energy and transfers on my children's education. This is my long term goal as I always wish for them to get the best education since in the coming years, life will be so difficult if one does not have any formal education. Currently, I have six children, though five are currently in school and are in different levels. Seeing them fulfill their dreams in life will be the most fulfilling achievement in my life and I know that this will be possible through hard work and support from GiveDirectly.

My main aim is to ensure my children stay fully in school through the help of these transfers. This is because before the transfers, it was a huge challenge for me to keep up with my family needs and also ensure that the school needs for all the 4 children were taken care of. For this reason, they would always be sent away from school due to delayed fee payments which eventually affected their general performance. With what I earn from my motorcycle taxi job, I am able to cater for my family needs while the transfers are solely directed towards my children's school needs, ranging from school fees to books to school uniforms and any other requirements. This way, I am sure that at no given point would they miss any lessons or miss out on important school activities. This has helped because their performance in school have evidently improved. During the months when the children are on holiday, I always ensure that I save or invest the money in a manner that should there be any urgent school needs that I am not able to cater for, then, the money/investment can be in a position to take care of the need. In the month of August when the kids were on holiday, I purchased a goat at a cost of $40.

I am work as a motorcycle taxi operator using a hired motorcycle, but my major goal is to own a motorcycle so as to improve my daily earnings. At the moment, I have to ensure I remit a daily fee to the motorcycle owner regardless of what my daily earning is but with my own a motorcycle, all the daily earnings will be mine meaning an improved income. To realize this dream, I have to take a loan from a sacco which I believe is possible because Give Directly transfers already ensure my children's school needs are taken care of and with the recent harvests, we have enough food for months. With the reduced financial burden at home, my daily earnings from the new motorcycle will be partly used to service the loan and the rest spent on the household needs. It would be great to achieve this within the coming year so that I can have ample time to clear the loan while the program is still on.

I allocated $6 towards purchasing a fresh set of school uniforms for my daughter, an expense that carried deep emotional weight for both of us. It was disheartening to witness her wearing tattered and patched uniforms to school. However, the moment I presented her with the new uniforms, her eyes spoke volumes. A radiant smile adorned her face, instilling in her an increased motivation to attend school. Aside from acquiring the school uniform, I also settled my son's outstanding school fee from the previous term, amounting to $7, ensuring he would not be sent home and miss out on valuable lessons. Furthermore, I made a partial payment of $9 towards the current term's tuition fees. To sustain my family, I work as a motorcycle taxi driver, although I do not own the motorcycle itself. Consequently, I must rent one and share the daily earnings with the motorcycle owner, resulting in me earning a meager income. This financial limitation often hinders me from adequately providing for my family's essential needs, particularly in terms of purchasing food. Therefore, I am immensely grateful that I was able to acquire six packets of maize flour, which helped feed my family during a time when our food supply had depleted.

As an individual, I deeply appreciate the significance of education. My foremost accomplishment, both presently and in the future, revolves around supporting my children's education. By doing so, I aim to ensure their path towards a brighter and more prosperous future. Additionally, I am determined to empower myself through self-employment. With the promising rainfall, we anticipate a bountiful harvest. The abundance of food will allow me to save a substantial amount, enabling me to acquire my own motorcycle. Consequently, I will no longer be required to share my earnings with anyone, gaining greater financial independence.

After I realized that I had finally received the transfers my top most priority was to ensure that I settle all my debts so that they would not carry on to the following year. At the time my son had a debt in tuition worth KES 1080 so I proceeded to pay that exact amount. I proceeded to spend KES 1,920 in buying brand new school uniform for my four children so that when school resumed this year they would look amazing and feel confident as well. Lastly I spent the remaining balance of KES 400 on paying for a debt in solar power. When it comes down to the funds I received in November I spent them on buying a goat meanwhile in October I bought poultry and spent a substantial amount on nourishment.

I used $14 to pay school fees for my children who are still in their primary level of studies and used another $6 to buy chicken for keeping. The remaining amount of $10 was used to buy food for my family. I am a father of six children with four already in school and I sometimes have to part with a lot of money to pay their school fees. I am a motorcycle operator but I do not own a motorcycle of my own-I am employed by people who owns motorcycles. At the end of the day, I may collect as little as $2 per day that is hardly enough to feed my family of 6. My wife has been very supportive with her small business of selling grocery and sometimes when I do not make anything at all , she comes to my rescue and meets the needs of our family. I am so happy that GiveDirectly has given me a helping hand where I will be able to concentrate on paying school fees for my children with the hope that they will have a better future than mine.

In my opinion GiveDirectly does very well by enrolling everyone within a selected area and giving them support in form of cash. The fact that the support given is not conditioned makes it very easy for people to make it very possible for people to make investment decisions.

I have six children plus my spouse whom all depend on me. I ride a motorcycle once in a while because I neither own one nor am I assigned one but there are times when some of my friends lend me theirs whenever they want to take a break. Since I am not a regular rider, I do not earn enough from it to sustain my family and there are times when it takes a week before I get lucky to have one. Four of my children who are in Ikanga primary school had not paid for their examination fees. The moment when I received my transfers I immediately paid KES 500 in school. I am glad I was able to pay the fees on time and that they were allowed to sit for their examinations. Besides that, I also bought two chickens for rearing at KES 500. I am hoping to purchase more with the coming transfers so that I can sell them in the future to raise money for my household needs. The remaining KES 180 I used to pay for a solar lump subscription of three days. I am thankful for the support since it was a reliever.

The biggest difference in my daily life since I received the transfers is the ease of paying examination fees for my children. This would not have been possible with the help of the transfers. I do operate a motorcycle taxi once in a while whenever I am lucky to get one from a friend but it was unfortunate that for two weeks I had not got a chance. Being the breadwinner of the family, it was not easy to sustain the family needs and raise the examination fees at the same time. I am glad GiveDirectly came to my rescue and the children managed to sit for their examinations.

Being the breadwinner in a family of eight with no reliable source of income, I was in a financial crisis at the time when I received my first transfer. My four children had stayed back at home for lack of examination fees. You can imagine the joy I felt when I received a confirmation message that I had received the first transfer. I thanked God for the miracle because it came when I least expected it.