Looking ahead to the coming year and beyond, my primary focus will be on expanding my business and maximizing its profitability. With the shop now reopened and restocked, I aim to attract more customers and increase sales. This will involve implementing effective marketing strategies, diversifying our product offerings, and providing excellent customer service. By consistently meeting the needs of our customers, I believe we can grow the business and achieve greater financial success. Additionally, ensuring a quality education for my children remains a top priority. I am committed to supporting their academic journey and providing them with the resources they need to thrive in their studies. I understand the importance of education in shaping their future and will continue to prioritize their educational needs.

What I like about GiveDirectly (GD) is its independent nature when it comes to enrollment process. Their approach of conducting their own assessments and enrolling recipients based on their own criteria is indeed commendable, as it ensures fairness and transparency in the selection process. I have not identified any areas for improvement within the organization as the organization has been successful in delivering their programs effectively and meeting the needs of the beneficiaries.

After assessing the situation and considering the potential benefits, my family and I made the decision to reopen our previously closed shop business. We used $420 from the third transfer to restock the shop with goods. This strategic move was made with the aim of diversifying our income sources and complementing our maize farming activities.By reopening the shop, we hope to tap into the local market and provide essential goods to the community. We believe that revitalizing the shop business will contribute to economic activity and create more opportunities for financial stability. Furthermore, I used the remaining transfer to supplement the funds I already had and paid for my child's school fees. As she is in grade eight, it is crucial to ensure her uninterrupted education and support her academic journey.

In the next one year and beyond, I hope to expand my business of running a shop and a poshomill. Right now I have stock of goods amounting to slightly more than $100 and I make a profit of hardly $20 per month. Although this income is reasonable, I hope to add stock and make more profits in the long run. This I plan to do by ploughing back profits that I now make from the two businesses that I run. This will also reduce our over reliance on goats and in turn enable us to meet any emerging needs in future.

In my opinion GiveDirectly does very well by being very transparent in their operations. By not using any middlemen to reach us makes us have confidence in them. We have seen other organisations in the past that have come and they used middlemen such as community leaders to offer their support. Most of the time this failed and the support did not reach the intended people in full. The direct enrollment of each individual household and the training that they offer is something to be appreciative of.

When I received my most recent transfer of $450, I used $230 to buy pesticides that were used in my farm and another $170 was used to improve my shop keeping and poshomill business. I then used another $50 to pay school fees for my children who are in their primary school level. We normally rely on irrigation farming as a source of livelihood here. We also keep goats that helps us to meet any huge financial needs moreso those that are an emergency. We received the money when we had tomatoes in our farms that required regular spraying to control pesticides. We were lucky to have received the transfer at around that time and this saved us from selling the goats that we own. This therefore means that we are in a better place to meet any needs in the future that may come by. It was however unfortunate since I made some huge losses from the tomatoes farm. I am so happy that my business of running a shop has been revived. This has not just made our lives easier but has also given me hope of expanding this business to make more money in future.

I can vividly recall the moment when I received my transfer. What prompted me was I overheard my village mate talking about the receipt of their first transfer. I hastily rushed and picked up my phone to check whether the utterances I overheard were true. Upon checking, I realized that I had also received money from GiveDirectly. I was overwhelmed with joy knowing this would help me accomplish my goals. It was at that moment that I called my husband to share the good news with him. He was equally excited and overjoyed with happiness. I'm eternally grateful to GiveDirectly for such an opportunity to empower me in enriching my life.

The tremendous distinction in my day-to-day life described before is the cash transfer gave me an expectation for a better tomorrow. The reason why I say this is because I was allowed time to decide what I wanted to do with the money with no conditions. I feel delighted and overjoyed to have achieved my goals in a short period. I have no worries whatsoever about where to get money for the irrigation of my farm in the coming planting season. This is all attributed to the cash transfer. I'm happy for the support of uplifting our lives.

When GiveDirectly got to our village, I knew this would be an opportunity for me to improve the stature of my life. My family comprises four children together with my husband. We've had difficulty with finances, thus making our life a bit strenuous. My husband and I rely on tomatoes which we farm on small scale. We sell the produce to earn a living. Upon receipt of my initial transfer, I used $110 to purchase tomato seedlings and fertilizer. I figured this would increase our income. I also spent $70 to boost my business. The cash transfer greatly improved our lives. We are grateful to the organization for its unconditional support.