In the next year, my main goal is to start food crop farming to ensure that my family has enough to eat without constantly worrying about where our next meal will come from. I plan to save a portion of the monthly transfers I receive, setting aside just enough each time to buy seeds, tools, and other essentials for farming. With careful saving, I aim to prepare a small piece of land where I can grow a variety of crops that will feed my family. By the end of the year, I hope to have a thriving farm that provides us with food, so we no longer have to strain or depend on others. This farming journey will not only nourish my family but also give us a sense of security and independence for the future.

I am a father of seven, doing my best to provide for my family through casual jobs and subsistence farming. Four of my children are still in school, and their education is my top priority. With the recent three transfers amounting to $102, I made careful decisions to ensure my family’s well-being and future stability. First, I used $10 to buy two chickens. This small purchase is part of my plan to gradually increase our livestock, providing both food and potential income. Through the monthly transfers, I now have 8 chickens. I also spent $37 on food to ensure that my family had enough to eat. This was a necessary and immediate priority. In addition to securing food, I also focused on long-term investments. I used $25 to buy a she-goat, adding to the livestock I’ve been slowly building. With the help of the monthly transfers, I now have a total of five goats, which are crucial to securing our future. Finally, I used the remaining $30 to pay school fees for my children, who had been sent home due to unpaid fees. Getting them back in school was a huge relief and a proud moment for me. These transfers have been a lifeline, helping me to meet both immediate needs and long-term goals for my family.

In the coming year and beyond, my greatest hope is to see my son join college for a teaching course. This is very important to me because I believe education will open doors for him and help him secure a good job. To make this dream a reality, I plan to save $20 every month starting now. It won't be easy, but I am determined to do whatever it takes to ensure he gets this opportunity. I know that with a teaching qualification, my son will be able to find stable employment and support our family. This will not only change his life but also lift us all towards a better future.

Out of the recent transfers amounting to $102, I used $30 to pay school fees for my three primary school children. They had been on and off school due to the lack of funds, and it weighed heavily on my mind. Ensuring their education is paramount to me, and seeing them return to school filled me with relief and happiness. Education is their pathway to a brighter future, and knowing they are back in class, learning and growing, brings me immense peace and satisfaction. Next, I invested $42 in buying nine small chicks. This poultry investment is a step towards securing a stable income for my family in the future. I believe raising these chicks will yield positive returns, providing us with eggs and meat, and potentially even more chickens to sell. The remaining $30 was crucial for our immediate needs. Depending on casual labor makes our income unpredictable, so I used this amount to buy food, ensuring my family would not go hungry. This balance between immediate relief and future investment gives me hope and a sense of stability.

Last year, my son graduated from secondary school, and he is set to begin college in September. My objective is to accumulate sufficient funds to settle the outstanding school fees from his previous school and to cover the expenses for his upcoming college education. Providing financial assistance will facilitate his pursuit of a career in teaching. I am grateful for the support received through transfers, which has been instrumental in helping both my son and me achieve our life goals.

I allocated $36 towards school fees for my four children, who are currently enrolled in primary school. This investment ensured their continued education, a priority for our family. As a subsistence farmer, most of my harvest is consumed within the household, with any surplus sold for additional income. Despite earning modestly from agricultural sales, financing the needs of my family can be challenging at times. The financial support I received was instrumental in covering my children's school fees. In addition, I made strategic investments in a goat, purchased for $32, and two ducks, acquired for $20. These animals hold promise for future returns, particularly once they begin to multiply. Furthermore, I allocated $14 towards purchasing food for my family, ensuring they never went hungry. I am deeply grateful for the financial assistance, which has greatly supported my ability to care for my family.

Right now, my priority is supporting my children's education. When they get sent home from school, nowadays I am confident enough to persuade the teachers to let them stay with a promise to pay when I receive the cash transfers. I am happy that the cash transfers have been crucial in keeping them in school. I know that my job as a herdsman would never be enough to cover the school fees for all five of them, let alone provide daily meals. So, making sure they stay in school is my main focus because I don't want to see them stay at home with me due to a lack of tuition money. I hope the cash transfers continue supporting me in this.

Even though I am getting older, I still have five children in school who rely on me to pay their tuition fees. I lack a steady source of income. My main way of livelihood is through subsistence farming, but that only happens when it rains. Additionally, I take care of someone else's cattle, and they pay me a small fee from time to time. That's what I use to provide food for my family and cover my children's school fees. To be honest, before Give Directly, things were really tough. But now, the cash transfers have made a significant difference. Whenever I receive the cash transfers, my main focus is on my children's education, food, and building up my livestock holdings. From the recent funds, I allocated $44 for school fees, which has reduced the number of times my children were sent home from school. I also bought a goat for $30 and three chickens for $10 intending to grow my own herd of livestock as assets. The rest of the money was spent on food to make sure we did not go hungry. I am truly thankful for the cash transfers.

I believe that education is a crucial factor in achieving success, and it is my utmost desire to provide this for my five young children. I am confident that this will greatly contribute to their prospects, ensuring they obtain good employment opportunities and enjoy stable incomes, ultimately leading to a fulfilling life. My primary objective is to utilize the available funds to cover my children's school fees until they complete their education. By doing so, I can be certain that they have a solid foundation to rely on in their future.

My wife and I both work as peasant farmers to make a living. Until recently, we faced difficulties sustaining ourselves through farming due to the prolonged drought conditions that lasted for three years. However, there is now a glimmer of hope, as we have been experiencing consistent rainfall for the past month. This has raised our expectations of a bountiful harvest, which prompted me to make a significant investment by buying a goat for $25 using my transfers. I plan to use this money to purchase additional livestock, serving as a backup plan in case I face financial challenges while providing for my family's essential needs such as school fees, food, and medication. By diversifying our income through livestock rearing, we aim to reduce our dependence on farming, which has proven challenging in recent years due to financial constraints. Additionally, during May, we encountered a situation where we ran out of food and had to rely on credit to avoid going hungry. Thankfully, the support we received from GiveDirectly has allowed us to keep our children in school, with their assistance gradually making a positive impact on our lives. Among our five children, one is in secondary school, while the other four are in primary education. We are genuinely grateful to the organization for their kind gesture.

My long-term objective for this year is to use a significant portion of my transfer to fix up my house. The house has been a valuable asset to me for more than ten years, but at the moment, its condition is deteriorating. Huge openings in the thatched roof allow rainwater to enter whenever it rains. I want to use iron sheets for its renovation because they are strong and last longer. I plan to build stonewall pillars all the way around each corner of the house to strengthen the weaker poles and strengthen the structure as a whole. All these upgrades will make my house safe to live in, eliminating my concern that it might collapse while my family members are sound asleep.

My three kids are entirely dependent on me to provide for their financial needs. They are all students at Mnazimwenga Primary School. I earn a living by breeding livestock for other people. Each month, I receive a $30 salary. This sum is insufficient to cover all of my children's and my family's meal and educational costs. Due to this, it has become difficult for me to make on-time school fee payments, and my children now owe the school sizable school fee balances. When I got my January transfers, I paid my two children' past-due school fees so they could go back to school and continue with their education. I'm happy they can attend school and continue to learn without any obstacles. I bought enough food in large quantities to feed my family for more than two weeks. The cost of food is very high, and we have no access to other food sources. We are unable to grow our own food because of the severe drought-related climatic conditions. The fact that my family has food and won't go hungry makes me happy.

GiveDirectly is a caring and uplifting organization. Concerning the program the community was enrolled in, there is an assurance of getting some money monthly. Even though is not much with proper planning, one can do wonders because there is a guarantee of getting it every month. I fully support the idea.

By the time I received my second transfer, I was undergoing some frustrations concerning my six primary school children's school fees. They were four days out of school for fees. Upon receiving the transfer, I felt so happy because GiveDirectly enabled me to pay $16 school fees immediately and my six children went back to school happily. As they returned to school, their bright faces relieved me and gave me peace of mind. Thereafter, since hunger is the main challenge in our area, I opted to buy some foodstuff worthy of the remaining $14 to ensure food security for my children at home.

I only realized that the funds are actually a right when I go back home from the farm. I was instantly overwhelmed with so much joy especially because I was struggling financially, my kids were out of school and we hadn't had a meal for a couple of days.

In this particular situation I was really grateful with the fact that I was finally able to send my children back to school. This is because I am really relying on my children to progress academically so that they can have a better future.

Three days prior to receiving the funds from GiveDirectly four of my children and actually been kicked out of school. That is why I soon as they realized I had received the money I ended up using KES 800 to pay for their education. I was left with KES 400 which I ended up purchasing two packets of maize flour because the last we had a meal was two days before.