I wish to continue supporting my son's education as he is set to complete university in the next nine months. He is required to pay at least $300 every semester, and the cash transfers, coupled with the income from selling livestock and my small pensions post-retirement, have proven instrumental in keeping him in school. Another aspiration is to replace the roof of my house. The current iron sheets have corroded and developed perforations over time, allowing water to leak in when it rains. Replacing the roof would address this issue and I hope to channel the cash transfers towards the exercise.

During the festive season, the majority of the cash transfers, amounting to $34, were utilized to purchase food items such as wheat flour, ensuring that my family could prepare celebratory meals. I find joy in the fact that the celebrations were successful with the assistance of the cash transfers. As a farmer engaged in subsistence farming and livestock raising post-retirement, I bear the responsibility of being the main provider for my family. The cash transfers have played a crucial role in ensuring there is ample food on our table, especially during this festive season. Additionally, I have a son pursuing Information and Communications Technology at the Technical University of Mombasa, and I utilized $68 from the cash transfers to settle the tuition for the recently concluded academic year. Even during my retirement, I am grateful that, with this financial support, my son has not faced challenges like missing out on his studies.

In the upcoming years, my primary objective is to provide consistent financial support for my children's education, especially for my son George, who is currently in his third year of college. Additionally, I have a younger son in seventh grade who relies entirely on me for his needs, particularly his school fees. Currently, I am not actively engaged in any employment. After retiring from work 18 years ago, I focused on raising cattle and goats as a means to accumulate wealth. This combined with the pensions I have received during my retirement years has been the backbone of my children's support. However, the income generated from these sources often falls short of covering the total expenses. This is where the cash transfers have played a pivotal role, filling in the necessary gaps and easing the financial burden. I am truly grateful for this assistance. I intend to continue directing these transfers toward supporting my children's education until they complete their education.

Currently, my son George is in his third year of college at the Technical University of Mombasa, pursuing a degree in Information and Communications Technology. When the cash transfer arrived, there was an impending debt concerning his tuition fees. These fees amount to $330 per semester. Although I had some savings from the sale of my livestock and my pension from 18 years of work after retirement, it was not sufficient to cover the outstanding debt. Therefore, I utilized the full $34 from the transfer to supplement my savings and clear my son's school fees. The cash transfers have proven to be a valuable addition to the income I generate from selling my livestock. While I did not anticipate such financial assistance even at my advanced age, its arrival has filled me with gratitude, as it has lightened my burden considerably.

As a farmer, my source of income is meager, and I have been unable to undertake new projects due to limited funds. My dilapidated house is a constant source of worry, especially with the rainy season approaching. I am at a crossroads on how to fix the leaking roof with the little money that I have. However, my long-term goal is to find a permanent solution to this problem. This would involve purchasing new iron sheets to replace the old ones. I am hopeful that I will be able to achieve this goal soon, and my house will be in a better condition.

As an elderly peasant farmer, my three-acre farm is my primary source of income. However, the past three years have been challenging due to the harsh climatic weather conditions that have led to little harvest and dwindling income. To supplement my earnings, I also raise some livestock around my homestead. Unfortunately, this has not been enough to cater for my family's needs, including paying for school fees, food, and medication. My wife has been suffering from severe ulcers, which often require hospitalization. This has been an additional burden on our finances. Fortunately, I received my April transfers at the perfect time. I used $10 to clear my wife's hospital bill, and she is now recovering at home. Additionally, I paid $10 to clear my son's school fee balance, which allowed him to sit for his examinations. Finally, I spent the remaining $14 on food for my family. This was enough to ensure that we had enough to eat for the next two weeks, and we did not have to sleep on empty stomachs.

My son, George, is currently in his second year at the university. Considering that am retired, I do receive enough from my retirement fund to cover the $330 fee amount, required per academic term. Besides, I have another son in grade seven who counts on me for provision. Particularly, I plan to continue supporting George’s education through cash transfers. I would be glad to see him graduate in two years' time courtesy of the transfers.

Over the last month, my house’s roof has been leaking rainwater, which has brought so much cold, especially during the nights. Initially, fixing the roof was challenging because I lacked the necessary funds for new iron sheets until I received the cash transfer from Give Directly. So, I prioritized buying two pieces of iron sheets worth $20 to replace the old perforated ones that had been installed since the ‘90s. I am glad that the house is warmer now and I no longer worry about catching a cold. Besides repairing my house, I spent the remaining amount on food for my family of four (my wife, two sons, and I). As the household’s breadwinner, I was compelled to replenish the stock of food in the house as I bought time to raise more funds. Honestly, at my advanced age of 70, the cash transfers come as a huge relief to the responsibility burden I bear. I commend Give Directly for the support extended so far and pray that they continue in the same spirit.

Drought has really taken a toll on us back in the village especially as subsistence farmers who used to rely on the harvest to feed our families. Therefore when I received the money I decided to deal with issues aligned with nutrition and I ended up using KES 1,500 by purchasing six packets of maize flour, two kilograms of beans and cooking oil. I was left with KES 1,500 which I still haven't used and this is because I plan to keep using it gradually on meals as well because hunger is our biggest challenge and any other need that will arise later on like nutrition.

Give Directly does an excellent job of giving funds to those in need. The money assists in meeting our household's needs, such as food, school fees, and clothing. I would recommend Give Directly to continue in the same spirit of aiding the most vulnerable members of society.

After I retired, I began raising livestock and subsistence farming for a living. However, due to the prolonged drought, it has been difficult to plant and harvest crops. As a result, the transfer came as a relief to help provide enough food for the family. I set aside KES 1,350 to buy 24 kilograms of maize flour for meal preparation. This way, the family would have enough food for the next few weeks. In addition, I spent KES 1,000 on new school uniforms for my son. He had outgrown his old clothes and could no longer fit into them, so the only option was to replace them with new ones. The remainder of the funds were saved for future financial emergencies.

I was actually in the farm that early morning because the the last two days it had rained and I was hopefully that if it kept raining and I prepared my farm then I would lucky enough to get great harvest but I can confirm that idea was most definitely short lived cause it has not rained again yet. Anyway while I was working on the farm, is when the funds came in and I was pleased and happy you would have though I was a mother seeing its new born baby.

This funds have mostly helped me in ensuring that my kids always have a meal on the table since nutrition is one of our biggest challenges. But I am most definitely glad I got an opportunity to get involved with GiveDirectly and be one of the witnesses that attest to some of the great things it is doing.

Over the years the cost of living has definitely gone higher that it previously was, which has left many people including myself closer to the poverty line than we once were. After realising that the standards of living and maintenance are going high and most times I may fail to keep up, I went ahead and began depending on livestock keeping and farming to provide for my family especially after I retired back in the year 2006. Now that drought is upon us even keeping livestock and depending on the harvest has been a challenge. That is the why after receiving the funds from GiveDirectly the first initiative I took was to settle matters concerning the nourishment of my family because we had barely enough food to last us a week .I purchased a bag of maize that contained a dozen packets for KES 1,300, three kilograms of beans for KES 360, two packets of wheat flour for KES 300 and lastly two kilograms of sugar worth KES 140. I am still left with about KES 900 on me which I plan on using gradually when the need arises and in case of any pressing matters that need attention or a necessity.