In my current work, I am engaged in selling and burning charcoal to sustain my family. Concurrently, I am nurturing four goats with the intention of increasing their numbers through breeding. This strategic move will facilitate the sale of some goats, enabling me to procure a dairy cow. With this acquisition, I aim to launch my own milk-selling business, catering to the needs of my neighbors and expanding my income streams. My goal is to secure a substantial profit, ensuring my children enjoy an uninterrupted education and fostering an improvement in our living standards.

As a devoted mother of three, I allocated $34 from my recent transfers to pay my children's school fees, ensuring their education continues without interruption. Witnessing a radiant smile on my youngest child's face as I invested $10 in purchasing a new school uniform for him, filled my heart with joy. Taking steps to secure our future, I eagerly purchased a goat for $34 and acquired four chickens at $5 each, totaling $20. These investments not only inspire confidence but also paint a beautiful picture of the promising future ahead. With the remaining $14, I carefully selected nourishing food to sustain my family for the week, cherishing the moments of togetherness.

In the coming year, my primary goal is to utilize my next transfers to acquire additional livestock. This presents a tremendous opportunity for me to engage in animal husbandry and ensure their numbers multiply. Once they do, it will provide me with a promising means of earning a livelihood by selling a portion of the livestock. Furthermore, I have plans to allocate a portion of the transfer funds to sponsor my children's education. It is of utmost importance to me that they receive a quality education, and the financial support from the transfers will contribute significantly to that goal. I am incredibly grateful for the support I have received from the transfers thus far. It has made a substantial difference in my life and has provided me with hope and stability. I am excited about the future prospects and the positive impact these transfers will continue to have on my family's well-being.

My husband and I both work as casual laborers, relying mainly on subsistence farming and low-paying jobs such as house construction. During these challenging economic times, the monthly transfers have been incredibly beneficial for our family. With the financial assistance, I was able to purchase livestock. I bought a goat for $30 and two hens for $14. The primary purpose of these purchases is to raise them, and once they multiply, I can sell some for a profit to improve my life. In addition to buying livestock, I also used part of the money to clear a school fee debt of $4 for my two children, who are in classes two and one. Furthermore, I hired a tractor for $27 to plow my 1-acre land in preparation for planting. I am grateful that the rain has started, and I am expecting a bumper harvest soon. To ensure that my family has enough food, I spent $10 on sugar and other essential food items. Thanks to the financial support from the transfers, my family has never gone hungry. It has provided us with much-needed stability during these difficult times.

My primary objective is to make substantial investments in livestock, with a particular focus on acquiring goats. My plan is to raise them diligently, aiming for a significant increase in their numbers, creating a thriving and sizable herd. In the future, I intend to sell a portion of the goats to generate capital for venturing into business endeavors. Alongside starting a business, I have aspirations of becoming a dairy cow owner. Once I sell some of the goats, I will use the proceeds to purchase a dairy cow. This strategic move will enable me to generate additional income by selling milk from the cow. By diversifying my investments and carefully managing my livestock, I aim to create a sustainable and profitable future for myself.

Currently, I bear the responsibility of providing for my family, consisting of my husband, three children, and myself. Unfortunately, my husband lost his job and hasn't been able to secure new employment. To make ends meet, I support us by selling charcoal. I extract tree stumps, convert them into charcoal, and sell it to earn income and meet our needs. While it hasn't been without challenges, I am appreciative of the monthly transfers received from Give Directly, as they serve as a much-needed financial boost in caring for my family. I utilized $17 of my July transfer to clear my two children's school debts. They are in grade 3 and grade 1, respectively. I'm now relieved knowing that they have no outstanding fees, allowing them to continue their education uninterrupted, without the fear of being sent home. Additionally, I used $17 to purchase nine packets of maize flour when our food stock was nearly depleted. Thanks to this financial support, I could buy enough food to last us for approximately a week. I am diligently planning how to acquire funds for the next meal, ensuring that our essential needs are met. The financial boost from Give Directly has significantly eased the burden of caring for my family, providing a sense of happiness and relief.

My husband's business ended two weeks ago as the television he was using for the business was his brother's who sold it off and now my husband cannot operate and hence is now back to relying to casual jobs that are hard to find. I have been thinking of finding a way of supporting my family financially. I have a plan to start a business using the GD transfers which I receive. I want to start a business selling groceries at the market. I would also want to add more goats to my flock. I want them to become so many so I may be able to sell them. As they give birth they grow in number which means that if my business is suffering I can always get cash from the selling one of them and boosting it.

I used to make charcoal and sell and my husband used to have a place where people watched football matches. In a day where their are games he would get $10 to $15 but on days where their wasn't much to show he would get $1.5 per day. It wasn't easy to buy a goat before because these amounts would be needed for basic needs in the house. In December I bought a goat with for $30 and I used $4 to buy food. In February I bought another goat at $30 and used the amount left $4 to buy food. In January I paid school fees for my two children in KG1 and KG2 at $12, I used $15 to buy food, the remaining amount I used to buy shoes for myself and clothes for my children.

I was hoping this year that the funds would allow me to buy a couple of fun animals like I did last year. I intend on investing in buying more goats, which could in turn assist me financially when I need the money. I currently own three goats, which was made possible with the funds that I receive. I also hope that the funds will assist me in paying tuition for my children because it is quite common for them to get sent back home when we fail to settle the debt. Last but not least, I would be thrilled if by the end of the year I managed to open up a business where I sell groceries so that I could assist my husband in taking care of the family.

I previously had no source of income and was dependent on my husband before receiving the support from Give Directly. When I got my third transfer, I spent $3 to establish a business selling items like maize flour, which is now our primary source of revenue. Since then, I've been upping it whenever I get my monthly money, spending $60 over the last three transfers to do so. I spent $10 on food for my family, but I still have $24 saved to purchase a goat to raise and add to the three I already have with the intention of eventually selling some of them to expand my business. Right now, I earn $2. I presently make $2 profit every day, and I'm hoping that with time, I'll be able to earn more from it so that my husband and I, together with our three children, may live comfortably.

I commend the staff who were working in the village during the enrollment exercise. They were very polite, kind and very understanding. This prompted us to confide in them and give them all the information. However, I recommend that the organization enroll more people from the poverty-stricken villages.

I spent half of my transfer of KES 1500 on paying school fees balances for my daughter. The head teacher had threatened to send her home if I did not clear all the arrears of the previous term. Paying the school fees was a guarantee that she will stay in school and continue with her studies. I spent the other half on buying food for the family (husband and daughter). My husband has no permanent job and depends on short contract jobs, which can last up to a maximum of 5 days. This is challenging because it makes it hard to plan on what to spend and what to save for the future. As a result, we often spend the little he earns and have nothing left to eat.

My three children had slept hungry the night before the transfers arrived due to lack of money. Imagine my delight when I got my first transfer that morning; it was immeasurable. I rushed out to get food stuffs and cooked a meal for my family.

Prior to the transfer, hunger was a serious issue in my household. We would go to bed hungry on empty stomachs after a day of starvation due to a lack of funds. I am grateful to Give Directly for the cash assistance because my family has not missed a meal since then.

For a living, I make and sell charcoal, which pays me at most KES 1,800 a month. With rising commodity prices, it is difficult to cover all of the household's demands with this amount. Besides, my husband's cinema business is barely profitable since the soccer season ended and people no longer come to watch games. Since the beginning of the month, life has hit us hard, and we have slept hungry for around seven days. So, it was only appropriate for me to spend the entire amount on food when I received the transfer, which I did.