I am pleased that the recent transfers have been a great help in ensuring the continuity of my children's education. With the fees paid on time, they no longer face any interruptions. My goal is to provide them with the best education possible, despite my financial difficulties. Furthermore, I also plan to venture into livestock keeping, and I have already purchased a goat and two chickens with the recent transfer. To me, livestock are valuable assets that I can sell when I am in a financial need. Therefore, I intend to invest more in them. I recently joined a merry-go-round group comprising six people, where I save $10 monthly. When my turn comes, I plan to use the savings to buy more goats, rear them, let them multiply, and eventually grow my herd.

My husband and I used to make charcoal by burning tree stumps to sell and earn our living. Unfortunately, this job came with health risks that affected my husband's chest, and he could no longer continue. With our children in school and many household needs to fulfil, it became difficult to make ends meet. We often struggled to pay school fees on time, which resulted in our children being sent home and missing many days of school. However, we are now grateful to be a part of this program because it has transformed our lives. My husband and I are both beneficiaries, and our goal is to ensure that our children remain in school. With the recent transfers, I was able to pay $40 towards their school fees, and they now have zero balances. This has allowed them to stay in school without any disruptions. In addition to paying school fees, I was also able to buy a goat and two chickens for $63. I had no livestock before, and I'm delighted to start with these animals acquired through the recent transfers. My plan is to keep them and let them multiply so that I can sell their offspring to fulfil my financial needs, including raising school fees for my children. I also joined a merry-go-round with six other people, with a monthly contribution of $10. I plan to use the money I receive from this to buy more goats. I spent the remaining portion on buying foodstuffs, such as sugar and some cereals, as well as toiletries that I lacked in my household.

My goal is to persist in acquiring more goats. Beyond the practical value they provide, these goats serve as a tangible and lasting reminder of progress and determination when the program eventually concludes. Moreover, having a growing herd will offer a safety net in times of unforeseen emergencies. These goats aren't just livestock; they represent security, both as a financial asset and a testament to my perseverance, ensuring I have something reliable to depend on when unexpected situations arise.

Receiving the recent unconditional cash transfer was a turning point for our family of nine. With part of the money, I purchased food supplies amounting to $34.7 to ensure that my children and I no longer had to endure empty stomachs. The struggle to provide for all nine of us had been a constant battle. As someone who sells charcoal and firewood, earning around $3 a day, my income was inconsistent, while my husband's monthly earnings of $20 as a herdman weren't sufficient for our large family's needs. The lack of adequate food affected our children's health and their ability to concentrate in school. It was disheartening to see them go to bed hungry, their morale and productivity declining day by day. However, the monthly cash from GiveDirectly changed our lives. Now, I ensure that every month I buy enough food to sustain us, erasing the haunting worry of going to bed with empty stomachs. The relief and gratitude that come with knowing I can provide adequate food for my family are immeasurable. No longer do we face the distress of uncertain meals or the impact of hunger on our health and well-being. The unconditional cash transfers have become a beacon of hope, allowing us to break free from the cycle of hunger and insecurity. It's heartening to witness the children's energy restored, their eagerness to learn renewed, and the overall improvement in our family's health and productivity.

My ambition was to own some livestock, such as goats, but I could not afford to buy them myself. Furthermore, I was unable to use the transfer to purchase goats because even purchasing food has been difficult in my household in recent years. As a result, my transfer was primarily for food. I recently managed to cultivate my acreage since the weather was favourable, and I expect a good harvest. This will solve the problem of food scarcity and allow me to redirect the transfer to the purchase of goats. Because I am not working, I can rely on the goats for financial assistance, such as raising school fees for my children. Owning goats is the most important goal that I hope to accomplish in the coming year and beyond.

My husband and I were overjoyed when the GiveDirectly program was introduced because we had been struggling to pay the fees for our three children for quite some time. Two are in high school, and one is in primary school. It has been extremely difficult to raise tuition for them, and I am relieved that they are all in school as a result of the transfer. Previously, they were frequently sent home because raising the necessary fees could take months due to financial constraints. I am relieved that they are no longer being sent home due to a lack of fees. My husband and I are both recipients, and we have committed to paying their tuition and assisting them in achieving their educational goals. I am also relieved that I will not have to do the backbreaking work of burning and selling charcoal to pay the fees. I also used some of my recent transfer to buy food for my family. I bought enough food, such as maize flour and other cereals, to feed my family on a daily basis. In addition, I also bought some iron sheets to renovate my kitchen after the recent rains destroyed its roof. I cannot cook in my main house because it is not spacious enough. I would like to renovate my kitchen so that I can have a separate cooking area while also keeping some of my kitchen items to free up space in my main house.

I have always wanted goats because I believe they will provide our family with financial stability. Thus, my present objective is to purchase goats to ensure that I have a bright future because goats are easily convertible into money due to their easy market. After the goats multiply and become more numerous, I think I can easily sell them to meet my financial needs. I have a strategy to save $5 with each transfer to make it easier to accomplish this. Due to the rigorous obligations, I have to my family, I decided to save a small sum of money each month.

Life has not always been simple for me as a mother of eight. Seven of them are in primary school, one is in high school. Things have been challenging for me because I rely on charcoal burning. I paid $15 in school fees for the secondary school student after obtaining the recent transfer because she had been dismissed because of the outstanding fees. I decided to use the remaining $19 to buy some food for my family because the drought has gotten worse in our area. This enabled me to take a one-week break from the taxing charcoal-burning job.

I appreciate what GiveDirectly is doing to support the underprivileged in our society. We have been battling the effects of the drought and a drop in business for the past few months, which has made things hectic. It has proven to be very difficult to meet our family's basic needs. I'm glad that unconditional transfers are protecting recipients from the worst, like starvation. I implore the organization to carry on helping people because it is morally right to do so.

While I sell charcoal, my husband makes a living by tending to other people's livestock. He makes $25 a month, which is extremely little given the numerous expenses the family has to cover. It has been challenging for me to help my husband pay the bills because my charcoal business has been declining over the past few months. We have been forced to skip meals because we don't have enough money to buy enough food due to our unstable income. I therefore spent a significant portion of my transfer money $19 worth on food for my family. This spared my family from going hungry. We now have enough food to last us for the next two weeks, which makes me happy. In addition to purchasing food, I also spent $3 on my daughter's school fees because she had been sent home from school for three days due to unpaid school fees. I'm glad she's back in school right now, continuing her education alongside her classmates. I finally paid back some debts I owed the shopkeeper after making a credit purchase for food. I had to purchase food on credit because of the difficult circumstances in order to prevent my family from going hungry.

I had just retired home from taking the cattle to feed in the field when I heard a message alert on my phone. Due to my inability to read, I asked my helper to check the contents of the message. I skipped with joy when she confirm that it was a cash transfer alert from Give Directly. Without wasting time, I sent her to collect the money and buy food for the family because we had starved the whole day.  

For a long time, hunger has been a major issue in my household. From the beginning of the month to the time I received the transfer, my family had gone to bed at least four times since there was no money for food. However, the cash transfer helped to alleviate this hardship. I used it to acquire food that lasted us the remaining two weeks of the month and we never lacked. 

Providing for my family of eight people has been challenging for both my husband and me. Given the rising commodity prices, the monthly wage of KES 2,500 my spouse makes from looking after livestock barely covers food or school fees for the children. In fact, my family had gone to bed hungry two nights consecutively before the cash transfer came in. Also, my son missed classes for three days due to a lack of money to clear his school fees. So, I gave him KES 200 to settle the amount and he gladly resumed his studies. I spent the rest amount on food to last us a few days while I waited to generate more money from the charcoal I had prepared.