Right now, I have two important goals that have been on my mind for a while, and I hope to accomplish them in the coming months. The first goal is to provide a quality education for my daughter, who will be starting secondary school next year. To achieve this, I plan to combine the earnings from my charcoal business with the monthly transfers I receive, saving a portion each month. I believe that once my daughter receives a good education, she will have a brighter future, and this is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. The second goal is to renovate my house, as it’s not in good condition, and I’m worried about the risk of rain causing harm. I intend to use the small savings from my earnings to work on this in the months ahead. By doing so, I can stop worrying about our safety and the upcoming rainy season.

My youngest daughter is now in grade eight, and I believe that by next year, she will be moving on to secondary school. Since neither my husband nor I have permanent jobs right now, I decided that I would save $10 each month from the transfers I receive, specifically for her secondary school expenses. This way, I'll have enough funds saved to ensure she can stay in school and transition smoothly. Education is something I missed out on, and I've always dreamed of seeing my children in school so they can have a brighter future, unlike me, who has struggled with life's hardships due to illiteracy and poverty. I also used $24 to pay her current school fees and buy her new uniforms and stationery since she was in need. Additionally, I spent around $24 to take my granddaughter to the hospital after she had an accident at school. While playing, she fell and broke one of her arms. I am incredibly grateful for this financial support because I don't know how we would have managed her situation otherwise. With the remaining $20, I've been buying food for my family as we wait for the rain to come.

My primary goal is to provide quality education for my son, who will be starting secondary school next year. I plan to achieve this objective by combining the earnings from my firewood business with the monthly transfers I receive. Despite the challenges I face, I maintain a sense of optimism and hope. With the financial assistance provided by GiveDirectly, I am confident that I will be able to fulfill this goal.

My husband works in house construction while I sell firewood, jointly supporting our family of four children. Due to financial constraints, I could only afford to educate two of my children, resorting to farming for others to make ends meet. However, these transfers have brought a renewed sense of hope to our family. I have primarily used these funds to educate my son, and I am proud to share that he is now in standard eight, almost completing primary school. Additionally, I have been able to meet our daily needs, including purchasing food and household essentials. With the transfers received, I allocated $60 towards my son's school fees, ensuring his uninterrupted education. I then saved $30 in our savings club, earmarked for paying school fees later in the year. The remaining $12 was spent on household items like flour and oil, replenishing our supplies. Receiving these transfers brings me a great sense of peace, and I am grateful to be part of this initiative.

Looking ahead, my primary goal is to address the inadequate and poorly conditioned kitchen structure. With its state, it allows water seepage during rain, creating a damp and inconvenient cooking environment. From our casual labors, my husband and I have not been able to obtain funds to construct a new structure, since what we get barely puts daily food on the table. Despite ongoing financial challenges, including school fees for my son, my plan involves initiating savings from the transfers to acquire building materials such as iron sheets and building poles for the construction of a more stable kitchen structure.

Both my husband and I lack a consistent income source, relying on sporadic employment such as house construction jobs and charcoal making, which proves unreliable for sustaining our son's education. So, In the past two months, I diligently saved $30 from the cash transfers through a savings group. This savings initiative is geared towards accumulating funds for my son's education, particularly as he advances from the seventh grade to high school in the next year. I also allocated $30 to clear outstanding school fees for my son, settling the debts for the term. This ensures he starts the next school year without any pending arrears. The remaining funds were utilized for additional school-related expenses, including buying a new bag and essential books because he lacked these items. I am happy that the cash transfers have been supportive of his education.

In the coming few years, I aspire to own livestock, particularly cows and goats. In the past, I had livestock, but I had to sell them to cover my children's school fees as charcoal burning was becoming physically demanding. I am hopeful that future financial constraints will be fewer, allowing me to utilize the cash transfers to purchase at least two cows for plowing purposes. These cows will not only assist me in cultivating my land but could also be rented out to generate extra income.

My main income sources involve charcoal production and working on others' farms while my husband relies on harvesting and selling palm wine. The earnings we make from these activities, however, barely meet the needs of the household which include food and school fees for our four children. This is why I usually prioritize these needs whenever I receive the transfer funds. From the most recent transfer, I allocated $10 to settle a school debt that had been accumulating for my child. The debt had led to him being frequently sent home from school. Fortunately, after I cleared it, he has not faced such interruptions. I also used $10 to cover a bill at the shop where I often obtain food on credit. While there are days we face food scarcity, relying on credit has helped reduce instances of hunger. I saved the remaining $10 through a self-help group. My objective is to accumulate funds for the education of my son, Sidhani, who is currently in grade 7, to ensure he completes his secondary schooling.

My main aim is to ensure I give quality education to my children. Since I involve myself in the firewood business apart from the monthly transfers, I believe I will make it. Despite the hardship I go through, I have not fallen out of faith. I am very optimistic that I will manage to fulfill the desires of their hearts through determination and financial discipline by committing some amount from the transfers and saving for them.

I used to struggle to make ends meet. My spouse who is a casual laborer could not comfortably cater to the needs of the family. This made me venture into some tiring businesses to support the situation. I started selling charcoal as well as selling firewood. As of now, I am grateful for the support that I received monthly from GiveDirectly because I am sure it will carry us for a long time since I was enrolled for monthly payments for five years. Soon the struggle will be over. Using the recent transfer, I did shopping for $18 for my school-going child as well as paying a balance of $4 in school fees so that he could continue with his studies comfortably. I also used $5 to buy him part of some required books since the money was not enough. Thereafter, I used the remaining $7 to buy some food to sustain my family for some days as I struggle with my charcoal-burning and firewood-cutting business.

I commend GiveDirectly for having committed staff members who go out of their way in helping the needy in the society. The staff members who visit us are well mannered and are ready to help to ensure that we do not miss on getting funds every month. I implore that the organisation continues doing the same and help more people suffering in abject poverty.

I am the primary breadwinner of my family of four members ( husband and two children). I earn a living by selling charcoal and working on peoples farms. The jobs are very limited because of the dire effects of the drought making it difficult to work on the farms.when I received my transfer, Ispent $10 to pay school fees for my two children. The older is enrolled in college undertaking an electrical course. The youngest is in primary school. I saved $10 in a savings group with the intention of saving more money to pay school fees for my daughter when she enrolls in junior secondary school next year. I spent $5 in getting medical attention after I fell ill two days after receiving my transfers. Finally, I spent the remaining $5 to buy food for my family. I purchased two packets of maize flour which was enough to last us three days.

I was eating dinner at around 8 p.m. when I felt my phone vibrating with a message alert. Due to my inability to read, I asked my daughter to check the contents of the message and she confirmed that I had received cash from Give Directly. I was so excited that I could not withdraw the amount the following morning. I swear, it was the longest night of my life!

The cash transfer from Give Directly has had the greatest impact on my relationship with my husband. It has brought us closer than before. We are doing a better job planning for the household expenditure together with the little cash we obtain. This makes me happy and excited for an even stronger bond through the next transfers.

As the breadwinner for the family, my husband takes on casual jobs in house construction to make a living.  Because such tasks are scarce in my locality, he can go up to two weeks without working and therefore earn no money. Even when he is successful, the KES 400 he makes each day barely covers the cost of food, let alone school tuition for our children. My sixth-grade daughter was pulled out of class to collect unpaid school payments balance the day of the transfer. So I gave her KES 500 to reduce the balance, and she resumed her studies. I also paid KES 300 on medical expenses for the same daughter, who had been suffering from flu. Finally, I spent the remaining amount on food. The household had run out of food the previous day and the cash transfer proved useful.