I am really excited that all my children that are expected in school are able to go to school unlike before when they were out of school most of the time. I have dedicated a huge portion of my transfers to school them which is working quite okay and I hope to continue with this. I am also working towards buying some animals. Animals are what earn most of our locals an income and I hope to join them soon as I now have a goat and 7 chicken. This will help my children stay in school even after the program ends.

I a mother of 7 school going children. I am a seasonal farmer who also doubles as a pastry seller. I do not make much as my earnings are greatly determined by how work is at the time of doing it. I was always unable to take my kids to school before the transfers but now I am glad I am able to get them through school. I paid $10 for my son in college to do his exams, I bought material for school uniform at $4, and I paid school fees for the rest at $30. I was also able to use my cash to buy food for my house at $28. The children were on holiday and most did not have clothes and I got clothes at $10. I was also fortunate to have enough to buy chicken at $10.

As a parent with children still in primary school, I have a clear plan for the coming year and beyond that I believe will secure our future. I aim to start keeping goats in our homestead. This endeavour is not just about having animals around but a strategic move to ensure financial stability as my children transition to higher education institutions. I believe that once we have the goats, they will be a reliable source of income, particularly when it comes to meeting the needs and fees associated with their education. By carefully managing and selling some of the goats over time, their numbers will naturally increase, creating a sustainable source of income that won't stress me out as much as other temporary solutions might. This plan gives me hope and confidence that, as a family, we will be able to handle future financial challenges with greater ease.

I am a subsistence farmer with no income at the moment, so as soon as I received my cash transfer, I directed it to my four children's school fees. I paid around $36 to settle their arrears, and I am so happy that they are no longer going home regularly like before. Their education is important to me, and knowing they can now attend school without interruption brings immense relief. Additionally, I bought some building poles at $21 for the renovation of my children's house, which was blown away by the strong winds we experienced recently. The thought of them being homeless stressed me out since they are now grownups and couldn't stay in my already crowded house. Thankfully, they will soon be back in their home, safe and sound. I also bought a mobile phone for $21 since mine had issues, and I was often unreachable. Realizing the importance of being available for communication, I knew a new phone was necessary. Additionally, I purchased two chickens as assets, giving me a small but reliable resource to depend on in emergencies. With the remaining money, I bought food for my family and other household items, ensuring we had what we needed for daily life. These purchases have greatly improved our living situation, and I am deeply grateful for the positive changes brought by the cash transfer.

Reflecting on the possibilities ahead in the coming year,With the cash transfers I've received, I aim to build a thriving livestock enterprise. The plan is to rear more animals, creating a self-sustaining cycle that ensures financial stability. I am cultivating a more secure and prosperous future for myself and my family. Thanks to Givedirectly.

I invested $35 from the Givedirectly transfer to buy a goat, which I see as a long-term investment. My plan is to have the goat reproduce and sell the offspring to create a sustainable income for my family. Besides this, I also engage in farming to meet our daily household needs. My husband operates a small transportation business using his motorbike, but the income is currently being used to pay off the loan he used to buy it. Fortunately, the recent cash transfer allowed me to pay $46.5 towards the school fees of my four children, ensuring they have access to education. Also, before receiving the transfer, we faced many challenges. I used to depend on selling charcoal, but the earnings were never enough to meet our basic needs. Thanks to the $20 from the transfer, I was able to buy essential food items for my household. Givedirectly's support has not only relieved us of immediate financial burdens but has also empowered me to secure a better future and improve the well-being of my family.

Now that we have accomplished our goal of owning a piece of land, we can focus on how to develop the land or make proper use of it for the benefit of the family. My first aim is to heavily invest in farming which involve cultivation and animal rearing. I will start by buying a few chickens and later on move to bigger animals such as goats and eventually cows. This was not possible before when were still living in other people's land. How would one have the audacity to keep animals in other people's compound? It would be disrespectful. Animals are a good investment and I intend to keep as many as I can as the piece of land we own is big enough and there should be no problem finding grazing areas.

My family did not own a piece of land and had been hosted by other relatives in Mnazimumwenga village where we were enrolled. When we started receiving these transfers, we thought of a way to make use of them to solve our land problem once and for all, so we agreed as a family to purchase a piece of land which we would then pay for in monthly instalments. We were lucky to find a flexible seller in the next village who agreed to our request and since late last year, four of my family members including me have been using our transfers to pay for the piece of land. This was of course after a down payment was already made and what we were doing was to clear the balance. In the month of July we were finally able to clear the debt and are now bonafide owners of the land. It is a great feeling to be a land owner and live comfortably without any fears of eviction. The portion is also big enough and will serve our children who do not have to go through what we went through as squatters. It is also a great feeling to now have to use the transfers for other needs such as school fee payments and to purchase other household requirements.

Livestock rearing had been one of the most projects that I had dreamt of having. With a large family and no reliable source of income, I had thought of having an income-generating activity that would help me educate my children in the future. My goal is therefore to have as many livestock as possible so that whenever I would be faced with any financial challenges, I be able to sell and get the required money. I plan to be saving part of my monthly transfers to help me start the project.

My family had always wanted to relocate to another location because we had not legally acquired the location that we were before. Therefore, we had been putting together our monthly transfers to enable us to acquire a new piece of land and later last year, we managed to relocate though we had not fully completed the payments. With the most recent transfers, I managed to remit $15 towards the contributions so that we could finish up the payments and as of now, all payments had been completed. I also manage to settle school fees arrears for my 5 children who had been sent home for school fees and paid $10 and later bought food with the remaining amount of $9.70, I felt so grateful.

Since I have not completed paying for the parcel of land I currently stay at, my primary goal for this year is to pay off the remaining balance. I had made some payments, but I still have a debt of $500. I shall prioritize clearing this year to give me room to start developing the parcel. Once I complete the payment, I shall initiate a project of building a spacious house. As a result, I shall be more at peace to always have the opportunity to reside in my home. I had desired it ever since I got married. I am so grateful to GiveDirecrly for the financial aid that has helped me to pursue my goals.

We were living in the neighborhood because we lacked land to build a house. I set myself the goal of saving money for a parcel as soon as I started receiving transfers. Fortunately, before the end of last year, my husband and I were disciplined on this and were able to locate a plot. We have been paying in small amounts. With the previous four months' transfers, I had $120 in savings, which I combined with other income to make the additional payment. Although I am yet to complete the last payment, I am glad I have moved into it. We feel more peaceful living in our home even though we stay in a makeshift house.

I believe that GiveDirectly, as an NGO, does an excellent job of assisting the needy by providing unconditional cash transfers. Many people are seeing a significant improvement in their quality of life as a result of this. It promotes the creation of awareness, a situation that promotes active participation launch of the program. Furthermore, it does well in doing visitation to each household during enrollment. Many parents have sent their children to school, which we could not do before. However, there is nothing GiveDirectly does not do well.

I used part of my recent transfer, $12 on paying school fees for my five school-going children. By then they had accumulated arrears of $30. As a result, they have been able to focus on their studies. In addition, I spent $18 on food that lasted my family of nine members for eight days. I opted to go for that because I did not have money. I am a peasant farmer who relies on rainfed agriculture. However, my husband does motorcycle taxis which has also not earned him much. He has a lot of financial burdens because he still services the loan he took to acquire the motorcycle. I am grateful to GiveDirectly.

The moment I realized that the organization had actually sent out the funds I was really excited and this is because at the time I really needed the money reasons being my children were out of school and there was barely any food in the house so it felt like all the problems I had were caving in on me.

I was really grateful that I could manage to get some money to pay tuition because I really want to ensure my kids get an education so that they could have a better future.

A day before the organization had sent out the transfers my three children had been kicked out of school due to pending tuition that I have not yet settled therefore, I went ahead and used KES 500 of the money I had received and paid for fees. Afterwards I ended up using the remaining finances which was KES 700 on nutrition because it was quite a challenge so I bought two packets of maize flour and two kilograms of sugar.