I have many goals in mind, but the one at the top is owning a pair of oxen. It has been my dream for a long time, but I couldn’t afford them because they are so expensive. This has forced me to prepare my farm by hand or, at times, hire someone to do it for me. Now I plan to use my savings from the Merry Go Round to purchase the bulls. These bulls will not only help with daily farm activities but also generate income for my family, as I can hire them out to neighbors for a fee. This investment will ensure we produce plenty of farm products, as I will be able to cultivate the entire farm with the help of the bull. Additionally, the income generated will be used to support my children’s education by directly paying their school fees.

I have been dreaming of owning oxen for quite some time, but due to financial difficulties, I couldn’t afford to buy any on my own. This has caused me a lot of stress, especially when it comes to preparing my farm. I often had to hire oxen from friends at a fee, but there were times I couldn’t afford it. As a result, I would end up using my hands to till the land. This meant I couldn’t fully utilize my entire plot, leading to very poor harvests on that parcel. To address this challenge, I decided to adopt a savings strategy. Over the past three months, I’ve managed to save $60 specifically for this goal. I see this as a success because soon it will be my turn to receive my shares, and I’ll finally be able to buy the oxen. This will be a huge relief for me, as I will no longer have to depend on friends’ oxen to cultivate my farm. Additionally, I was able to pay $30 in school fees for my children, who are now in junior secondary school. This ensures that they are no longer troubled by the issue of fees, which has been a recurring challenge for us. With $12, I purchased food and other essential household items that my family was lacking at the time.

As a mother of six children, I currently support our family by selling coconuts, while my husband is engaged in a house construction project which is our main source of income. My ultimate goal is to ensure my children receive a quality education and acquire skills that will enrich their lives. I am determined to provide them with the best opportunities so they can lead fulfilling lives without facing the hardships we endured before receiving support from GiveDirectly. Thanks to GiveDirectly, our lives have improved significantly. We can now afford necessities and plan for a better future for our children. One of my plans is to use my savings to purchase a bull, which will not only help in our daily activities but also generate additional income for our family. This investment will contribute to ensuring a brighter future and stability for us all.

With my recent transfers, I decided to prioritize saving for a significant investment. I allocated $68 to my personal savings account with the intention of purchasing a bull. However, when I visited the market last month, I couldn't find a bull but came across a dairy cow instead. I chose to save my money again while waiting to find the specific breed I desire. Currently, I own one bull and my goal is to acquire another so that I can use them for tilling my land and possibly renting them out for additional income. As a mother of six children, my main aspiration is to ensure their success and fulfill all their dreams. I spent $14 on their education to support their academic achievements. With the remaining $20 from my transfer, I decided to save it in my merry-go-round group. I joined this group in January 2024 with the aim of starting my own business and learning effective saving strategies. Currently, I am involved in buying and selling coconuts, and I am contemplating other business opportunities to ensure our family's success.

As a mother of six children, I sell coconuts and charcoal along the roadside, as well as to shopkeepers who sell them on my behalf. My primary goal is to provide my children with a good life by ensuring their school fees are paid on time. I firmly believe in the power of education to pave the way for a brighter future for my children. Additionally, I aim to invest in a bull to harvest our land, ensuring an abundance of food for our family and creating opportunities for us to easily sell our harvest and have enough to eat as well.

Last year, I joined a merry-go-round and a personal savings account, where I receive my savings annually. I allocated $68 to the merry-go-round, confident that my money would grow and enable me to purchase tools like a big sickle, trowel, and others for harvesting my land. Previously, managing one acre of land was easy, but now with three acres, manual tilling has become challenging, especially due to my back problem. I plan to save enough to improve my life and that of my children. The remaining $34 I deposited into my personal savings account with the intention of purchasing a bull.This investment will significantly aid me in farming, making my work easier and potentially generating income by hiring it out to others.

My ultimate goal is to obtain a dairy cow and two bulls. With the dairy cow reproducing and growing the herd, I can increase my wealth to support my family's needs. Additionally, I can sell the milk to generate daily earnings for household needs like food. On the other hand, the two bulls will assist me with plowing activities on my farm. Currently, I mostly manually plow my farm, which is tiresome and physically demanding. This is because when it rains, plowing services are in high demand, and this may lead to conflicts with service providers balancing between clients. Owning my bulls and a plow will prevent such conflicts in the future.

I've been saving most of my cash transfers through a self-help group and contributing to a merry-go-round club since last year. My main goal is to accumulate enough cash from these clubs to buy goats and start livestock rearing. Specifically, I aim to purchase at least five young male goats and a female goat. When the male goats mature, I plan to sell them to raise money to buy a dairy cow. This has always been my dream because, with a cow that can reproduce and produce milk, I could sell the milk to generate income and accumulate wealth through their reproduction. From the recent cash transfers, I saved a total of $84 through these clubs. I spent the remaining amount on other needs, such as buying clothes for my child to increase his attire because he had only a few. Importantly, the cash transfers are giving me hope to own goats, a desire that seemed impossible before due to a lack of stable income. My coconut-buying and selling business could barely meet basic needs, let alone afford livestock. I'm happy about the cash transfers; they have uplifted me, and now I can achieve my goal of owning goats.

I had always wanted to own goats, it was however not a dream I could achieve as I said earlier once we sorted basic needs no surplus was left. I knew I couldn't get this dream on my own and decided to jump at the opportunity of pursuing it when Givedirectly came to us. I have bought a number of goats and now I stand at 11 goats. I am saving in my informal savings group to get more goats. The goal for this is to ensure that I have an investment that multiplies on its own. I am buying more female goats that male to ensure this. My plan is that this animals will cushion me when need arises.

I had never been in a savings group before because we had nothing to save. My work as a charcoal seller and my husbands work as a house construction worker did not leave much to save since when we sorted out the basic needs. we would sometimes, even run on deficits and would end up at a place of taking debts. Since Givedirectly came the story has changed, now we have a savings group. we are a group of twenty five people where we save our money. I save a big portion of my June transfers, $30 and used the rest, $4 for food. In April I saved $2 and used $32 to buy a goat while in May I saved $20 and spent $10 on my children's education and $4 on food.

I am passionate about goat farming and with the support from GiveDirectly, I have been able to invest in more goats to build a sustainable income for my family. I take great pride in my work and am dedicated to providing the best possible care for my goats. My ultimate goal is to create a better life for my family by providing them with financial stability and access to education. Every goat I acquire brings me closer to achieving that goal. This is because, the more goats I have, the more profit I make.I am grateful for the opportunities that have come my way and am committed to working hard to make the most of them. I know that the road ahead won't be easy, but I am determined to succeed. I am excited to see where this journey takes me and am grateful for the support of GiveDirectly.

I am a mother of six children and I used to have three goats before receiving the monthly transfers that I usually get from GiveDirectly. After receiving transfer from GiveDirectly, I bought another three goats to add to my other three goats, hence I have six goats that makes me feel happy and proud to be part of the recipients of GiveDirectly. The moment I received my transfers, I spent $35 to buy the goats. I was able to add $1 from my other savings in order to get the full amount to buy those goats. My husband does not have a permanent job and currently all he does is a casual job, and I also do not have a job to do but all I do nowadays is to take care of those goats and make sure they are well fed.

I am quite grateful for the generosity that has been shown to me from the organization so far, especially because through the donations I have been able to cater to my family needs and even look into means of investing like buying farm animals. I am looking forward to this small Investments changing my life gradually and being able to help me sustain myself.

I was genuinely excited to realize that I had received the money, especially because I had already made plans that I wanted to buy a goat as a small investment. A couple of days later after the arrival of the money, I withdrew the transfers and headed to the market for the purchase. Unfortunately I failed to acquire the goat because the prices had gone high. Therefore I decided to save the transfers I had received which was KES 3,470 and wait for the next transfer so that I could buy the goat.

I had just finished eating supper and was getting ready for bed when my phone rang with a text message. After I finished reading the message, my mouth and body muscles remained still. The fact that I had received my first transfer shocked me. I ecstatically leaped around. My dearest husband and I were overjoyed when I told him the good news.

The funds from my initial transfer significantly improved my quality of life. My children returning to school and studying with their classmates has me at peace right now. I used to sob and feel depressed because I was unable to pay my enormous debt from unpaid school fees. However, this quickly changed once I got my first transfer because my children are no longer sent home.

My husband and I work odd jobs as casual laborers, making our livings by selling charcoal and constructing mud huts for other people, respectively. We rarely find these jobs as a result of the challenging current economy, and as a result, we are unable to support ourselves. I have two kids in primary school and am in serious debt due to excessive school costs. As a result, they are frequently sent home and spend a lot more time there than in school. My inability to raise the necessary funds to allow my children to return to school made me feel bad. The huge school fee balance of $50 they owed the school was therefore partially cleared when I received my first transfer, for which I spent $12. Knowing that my kids are back in school and continuing their education makes me grateful and at peace.