It is heartbreaking for me to be in my current health condition, unable to do anything for myself. My goal in the coming year and beyond is to seek specialized treatment that can improve my health. This will allow me to regain my independence and no longer rely on others. I plan to use my next transfers to pursue better treatment options. I am truly appreciative of the financial support, which is helping me access the medical care I need and improving my well-being.

This year has been particularly challenging for me. My health has seriously deteriorated in the last three months, leading to frequent hospital visits. Currently, I am unable to do anything for myself and fully depend on my son, who is a motorcycle taxi driver, for financial support. Last month, I was admitted to the hospital for a week, and I had to use the money from the transfers to partly cover the medical bill. I paid $68, and my son had to top up the additional amount to clear the bill. The financial burden on my son is significant, but thanks to the transfers, I can help ease some of that pressure. Along with paying for my medical expenses, I spent $34 on food for myself, purchasing milk, fruits, and vegetables to help boost my immunity. I am deeply grateful for the financial support, which is crucial in helping me seek medical attention and manage my health.

Although my health has improved significantly, I am not yet fully recovered. My goal for the coming year and beyond is to regularly go for medical check-ups and purchase the necessary medication to continue improving my health. I am very grateful for the financial support, as it would have been extremely difficult for me to afford my treatment without it.

Over the years, my health has rapidly deteriorated. Before this decline, I made a living as a farmer, growing crops and selling the surplus. Now, I rely on my wife and daughter for support. My daughter works as a casual laborer, and my wife does odd jobs, including selling charcoal. However, her income is insufficient to cover all our family expenses. At the beginning of this year, my health worsened significantly, leading to my hospital admission. I developed a painful, large swelling on my lower abdomen, and my legs became swollen. Over the past three months, I have also lost weight. The hospital stay resulted in a substantial medical bill. With contributions from my family and a transfer of $102, we managed to pay off the bill and purchase over-the-counter medication as advised by the doctor. Fortunately, my health has improved significantly. Thanks to the financial support from the transfers, I received proper medical attention, and today, I am out of danger.

In the upcoming year, my top priority is to continue receiving essential treatment for my kidney problem. The high cost of this treatment poses a significant challenge, considering that I do not have a steady source of income for my family. If my health shows signs of improvement, I intend to revive my involvement in farming activities, utilizing the transfers to cultivate and till the land. This ensures a sustainable source of food for my family as I continue my treatment. I express deep gratitude for the invaluable assistance extended to me during this challenging period.

As an elderly man battling kidney problems that demand ongoing and expensive dialysis, I find myself lacking the physical strength to work and am reliant on the support of my wife and son. The journey has been challenging, and making ends meet is a daunting task. The transfers I received have proven indispensable in ensuring I can afford the necessary medical treatment. Utilizing the entirety of the $102 received, I covered the costs of transportation to Mariakani town where I receive treatment as well as the essential dialysis sessions. I extend heartfelt gratitude to GiveDirectly for providing me a renewed sense of hope. While I am not fully recovered, my life has become more bearable, thanks to their support.

My current focus is on purchasing iron sheets to build the roof for the one-room extension I made to my house. Financial constraints, particularly the need for food, had previously prevented me from attending to this part of my house. As I'm getting older, I rely mostly on my son, whose income from casual jobs couldn't cover expenses beyond basic food needs. Now that the recent planting season has been successful, and we have food in storage, I believe I'll have enough money to complete the roofing of my house. To do this, I need at least twelve pieces of iron sheets before I can hire someone to finish the job for me.

During the recent planting season, I used the cash transfers from three months to cover the expenses of farming activities like planting and weeding. I'm pleased to say that my sacrifice paid off, as I had a bountiful harvest from my two-acre piece of land. I'm confident that this maize produce will be sufficient to feed my family until the middle of next year, and I'm relieved that hunger won't be a concern during that time. However, when I received the recent cash transfer, there was still another acre of my land with young crops that needed weeding. Due to my age, I couldn't do the weeding myself, so I hired some people to assist with this task and paid them $20 from the transfer. I used the remaining $14 to cover the costs of medication for the complications I've been experiencing in my lower abdomen over the past few months.

I want to establish a reliable source of income that will maintain a steady cash flow even after the cash transfers end in the coming years. Am leaning towards securing as many goats as possible through the cash transfers to build a solid income stream. So far, I have obtained four goats through previous cash transfers. As I grow the herd of these goats, I can easily sell them in the future to fulfill my family’s needs. 

Due to my advanced age, I cannot participate in any activity to generate an income, which makes me rely on my son to provide for my needs. He does casual jobs in Mombasa that generate too little income to cover any need beyond the essentials like food. Thankfully, the cash transfers have allowed me to fulfill some of the needs that proved to be challenging to meet. In February, I spent at least three weeks at the hospital where I had been admitted. During that time, I spent the entire cash transfer to fund my treatment procedures and pay for the medication. I used the funds received in March to compensate people to clear my three-acre farm in preparation for planting maize crops. Gladly, it has started raining, and am happy that my field is ready for planting. For the transfer I recently received, I plan on using it to start buying iron sheets as I prepare to renovate the roof of my house, which has rusted over time. 

I am a peasant farmer, growing maize for family consumption. This year, I intend to improve my crop farming by hiring workers to assist in preparing my 3 acres farm on time. We expect the onset of long rains in the month of April. This will enable me to produce enough harvest for the family, hence food security.

With my recent transfers, I spent $19 on two iron sheets. The rotten grass that had been there for more than ten years was the cause of my old, grass-roofed matchbox-sized house seriously leaking. As soon as I was accepted into the program, I made the decision to use some of my transfer money to purchase iron sheets and completely renovate my house roof. I'm happy to report that the roof can now be completely covered with just two more pieces of iron sheeting, which I will pay for with money from my upcoming transfer. The remaining $15 I used to buy food in addition to iron sheets. I had some issues with my urinary tract that prevented me from passing urine, and I was unable to work for a full month as a result. My wife, a peasant farmer, did her best to support me during this time while I concentrated on getting the right medical care. Receiving this money brought our family great joy because we knew we would have enough to eat after using a large portion of our savings to pay for medical expenses.

To supplement the six pieces of iron I had already purchased, I used my whole transfer to purchase three additional pieces. The flimsy construction poles caused my house to collapse three months ago. My wife and I live in an improvised home built of polythene and grass with our two daughters. I want to acquire additional cement, sand, construction stones, building poles, and iron sheets. Once I have all the necessary supplies, I'll construct a sturdy two-bedroom home for my family. The frigid nighttime air is getting intolerable, which is having an impact on my health. I am really appreciative that I will soon have a nice, permanent home.

Give Directly has done extremely well in helping the needy in society by giving them unconditional transfers. The funds will help me complete building my house and ensure my family lives in a safe place. I'd like to add the organization to increase the monthly stipend so that you can be able to put up with the high prices of commodities.

Two years ago, when I was still working, I started building a big and spacious house for my family. A few months later, I lost my job and went back home to depend on farming as a source of income. The Drought struck and I no longer earned a living from the farm. I could not finish building the house because I had no money left. As a result, the house has remained uncompleted for the past two years. When I received my transfer, I spent KES 2000 on buying two pieces of iron sheets I will use in building the roof of the house. Currently, I sleep in the makes shift house corridor which is covered with “Makuti” at the top after my house collapsed due to strong winds. Besides buying the iron sheets, I spent the remaining KES 1000 on buying food for my family to prevent them from starving after lacking food for two days. I have struggled to provide food for my family because I don't have a job and my wife does not earn much from his casual job selling charcoal.

My heart was filled with contentment the moment I received the transfer. I was excited to finally acquire money to buy food and put an end to the two-day hunger that had stricken the family. Candidly, I am grateful to Give Directly for coming to the rescue of our starvation at a very needy moment.

Consistent consumption of meals has significantly improved my physical stamina; I feel strong. The case was reversed before the transfer since I constantly skipped basic meals for lack of money. I would regularly get exhausted and worn out from hunger. Regaining my strength through food is the biggest difference I recorded since I started benefiting from the financial aid.

At 76 years old, my body is too weak to undertake casual jobs for a living. So I always count on my son, who works as a luggage cart pusher, to provide for the necessities of the household. His daily income depends on the amount of work done, which translates to nothing when he perseveres through the entire day without a client. For this reason, the earnings scarcely meet basic needs, especially food. Thus, suffering from hunger and malnourishment are the major issues that constantly affect my family. As a matter of fact, the morning I received the transfer, I was severely weakened and shaken from starvation for I had not eaten anything for the previous two days. Therefore, I spent the entire amount to purchase food worth KES 1,170 and had my wife prepare porridge for breakfast to reenergize.