My goal for the coming year and beyond is to invest in livestock. With the unpredictable weather and changing climate, farming has become unreliable. Livestock farming offers a stable source of income and the potential to build wealth. As my livestock multiply, I can sell some to meet my family's needs. I am truly grateful for the financial support, which has greatly improved our lives.

We formed a savings merry-go-round group immediately after we started receiving the transfers. The main reason for forming the group was to enhance the amount we raise, allowing us to invest in bigger and long-term projects that require substantial investments. Our group consists of eight members, and we contribute $20 monthly. The $160 collected every month is shared equally between two different members of the group. I spent the money I previously received from the group to purchase three goats and some hens. Unfortunately, the hens were attacked, and I lost many of them. Despite this setback, I am very happy with the investment I have made so far, considering that I heavily depend on farming and selling charcoal to earn a living. The current hot and dry conditions do not support farming, making livestock keeping the other valuable option. I spent $60 as my savings contribution for the last three months. The remaining amount of $42 was used to pay school fees for my son, who is currently a Form Three student at Mnazimumwenga Secondary School. This ensured that he stayed in school and was not sent home due to unpaid school fees. I am very happy that the transfers are helping me and my elderly husband live a better life independently without relying heavily on our older children, who are also struggling financially due to a lack of well-paying jobs.

In the coming year and beyond, my focus is on investing in livestock, particularly goats and chickens. Relying on subsistence farming has left me without a reliable source of income to meet my needs. There have been distressing moments when I couldn't afford school fees for my son, which pushed me to borrow from neighbors and accumulate debt. With livestock, I see an opportunity to generate income by selling them, alleviating the need for borrowing in the future. Currently, I own three goats and five chickens, and I aim to expand my livestock holdings further. Recently, I joined a merry-go-round with seven members, intending to use the accumulated funds to purchase more livestock when it's my turn. This proactive step aligns with my long-term goal of achieving financial stability through livestock farming, ensuring a more secure future for myself and my family.

The transfers have been instrumental in ensuring that my son, currently in high school, does not face school fee-related interruptions. Previously, he was frequently sent home due to unpaid fees, which posed a threat to his academic progress. However, with the $60 I allocated from the transfers, I cleared his fee arrears, providing him with the opportunity to continue his studies without worry. I am relieved knowing he can focus on his education, and I am determined to manage future payments with the help of these transfers, ensuring he achieves his educational goals. Additionally, I invested $25 in purchasing five chickens for a poultry project in my homestead. Since I have no other source of income, I aim to expand this project and eventually sell the chickens to meet our financial needs, especially for my son's education. Furthermore, I've been diligently saving $10 each month in a savings group comprising seven members. When my turn to receive the savings arrives, I plan to use the savings to purchase a goat, adding to my current livestock of three goats. The goats serve as valuable assets that will help us sustain ourselves financially. I used the remaining funds to buy essential food items such as beans and maize flour, ensuring that my family is well-fed. I also acquired some household items and toiletries that were lacking, further enhancing our quality of life.

Honestly, my goal remains to invest in livestock. Currently, with a daughter in form two, it is my responsibility, as a parent with no reliable source of income, to ensure her uninterrupted education by covering school fees. Rearing livestock offers a potential solution, as selling them in the future could provide the means to meet these educational needs. At present, I have no goats, and I would be pleased to have at least four when the cash transfers come to an end.

I am deeply grateful for the positive impact of the cash transfers, which have significantly contributed to our ability to keep our daughter, Rehema, in school. Currently, in form two, Rehema's education is a top priority for my husband and me. When I receive the cash transfers, I allocate $10 to a community savings club. This savings initiative aims to accumulate enough funds to purchase goats and cover any unexpected school fees for Rehema, especially during times when she might be sent home. Beyond the cash transfers, my income sources are limited, and in challenging times, I resort to making charcoal, although the earnings from this activity are hardly sufficient. Hence, I plan to invest in livestock using the savings from the cash transfers. This investment, as the animals reproduce, will provide a more sustainable source of income compared to charcoal making.  Out of the remaining amount, $10 is dedicated to buying food to ensure our family doesn't go hungry, and $14 is allocated for paying tuition for my child. I'm thankful that concerns about hunger have diminished, and Rehema rarely misses a day of school, all thanks to the cash transfers.

In the upcoming years, my most significant achievement will be skillfully investing in the purchase of livestock through my incoming transfers. As the goat population multiplies, selling some of them will yield substantial profits. These proceeds will be instrumental in providing for my family's necessities. I am profoundly appreciative of the financial assistance from these transfers, as they are substantially enhancing the overall quality of my life.

I make my living as a casual laborer through the sale of charcoal. My husband, who is quite elderly, is unable to work, so the responsibility of providing for our family falls squarely on my shoulders. Meeting our family's needs is often a challenging endeavor. Thankfully, my son plays a significant role in assisting with our family's financial needs. He runs a small vegetable business in the local market and contributes when I'm unable to do so. With the funds I received in July, I allocated $10 towards my son's school fees. He is currently in the third year at Manazimumwenga Secondary School. Although there remains a balance of $20 to cover, I am relieved that he completed his second term without any risk of being sent home. Additionally, I managed to save $10 within our savings group. This group holds great significance for us, as it enables us to tackle substantial projects. With ten members in total, each member is assured of receiving $100, which can be instrumental in completing large-scale endeavors. I used the remaining $14 to purchase three bags of maize flour and other essential food items to sustain our family. I am immensely thankful for the financial support provided through these transfers, which has proven to be a lifeline for us.

As my age advances, my ability to work and make an income will decrease. This is why I want to dive deeper into rearing livestock because it is the only way I will be able to provide for my family in the future. Currently, I have three goats and three chickens that I obtained using previous cash transfers. My plan is to continue spending most of the cash transfers to buy more goats and chickens. I believe as they reproduce, they will build me a solid source of income. 

In my old age, I never thought that it would be possible to actively support the education of my son, who is currently in form two. Being in our old age, both my husband and I cannot perform tasks to raise money by ourselves. Our older children usually carry the burden of fulfilling the family’s most pressing needs, which cannot go beyond food. For this reason, I always channel most of my transfers toward paying school fees for their younger brother in secondary school. Recently, I used $10 to reduce the pending tuition balance so that my child would study without interruptions to collect the fees. Am glad that he has remained in class to date. Next, I saved $10 through a self-help group as security in case I face any financial hardships in the future. I also spent $9 on three chickens to advance my rearing venture, as selling these chickens will generate more funds to meet my needs. Lastly, the house had run out of food the morning I received the money and I spent the remaining $5 to restock more. 

My priority is to support the education of my son, who is currently in form two. It would break my heart if he missed a day of school due to unpaid tuition debts. The school requires him to pay $50 per academic term, which is difficult to raise by myself given the lack of a reliable source of income. Though I have been saving through a self-help group for the past six months to support his studies, I intend to spend at least $10 from every transfer to directly cover his school fees. At least this will keep him in school as I slowly accumulate my savings through the club.

As a subsistence farmer, the past three years have been difficult for me and my family because of the crops' negative effects from the lack of rain. In contrast to the past, when we could acquire a harvest of more than five bags, we today get a crop of one bag of 90 kg or less. Therefore, it has been difficult to gather money to meet our demands. I'm happy GiveDirectly has provided such excellent assistance. $50 from the transfers over the last three months covered my children's school expenses, allowing them to attend all of their classes. I spent $44 on groceries that would last us for a while. Without the assistance for GiveDirectly, it would not have been simple, thus we are thankful.

My family of eleven people is wholly dependent on my son for basic necessities, particularly food. His meager earnings as a luggage carrier at a bus station barely cover the cost of food for the household daily. As a result, it is difficult to cover additional expenses, such as school fees for his sister, who is currently in form one. That is why for the past six months, I have been saving money through a self-help organization to help finance her education. The last thing I want is for her to miss lessons because of unpaid tuition fees. I was able to save KES 1000 from the recent transfer to support that course. This will assist to pull enough funds to pay her fees on time at the beginning of the next academic term. In addition, I allocated the remaining KES 2,000 to reduce her current fee amount.  There is still a KES 2,500 deficit that I intend to settle in the coming weeks.

In my opinion, the fact that GiveDirectly came to help us reduce the poverty we are in by giving us unconditional transfers is what it does well. It's the only organization that has directly transformed our lives by giving us the freedom to spend the transfers. Apart from this, GiveDirectly also gives adequate safeguarding information which has ensured the safety of our transfers. I do not see anything that GiveDirectly does not do well.

Owning livestock has been my biggest dream because they are the only assets that I can afford. I thus spent the whole of my first transfer on buying a goat. Once the goat reproduces and increases in number, I can readily rely on offspring to meet my financial needs like school fees for my son who is joining high school. The second transfer helped me to do enough shopping for my son who is joining high school. I bought school uniforms and some stationeries for his reporting. I am grateful to GiveDirectly because it would have taken some weeks to do the shopping thus reporting late.

I received the transfer notification early in the morning, I was attending to my animals when I heard my phone ringing. When I checked the contents of the message, I realised that it was a mpesa message. I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly as promised. I was greatly overjoyed and could not thank them enough for sending the financial support.

I managed to buy a new goat through the transfer and added it to my already existing goat shed. Owning goats to me has been the greatest investment since they are living assets that I can readily rely on in case of a financial need. I do not have a source of income and having these goats reproducing and increasing in number is my biggest desire. I will be able to sell the offspring to settle my future financial needs. Owning the goat is the biggest difference in my daily life so far.

I spent the whole of my first transfer on buying a goat. I have been rearing livestock which includes the goats and to me, they are the greatest living assets that one can own in our poverty-stricken region. Since I do not have a source of income, I can readily rely on the goats for my future financial obligations. My expectation is to let it grow and reproduce and have many of them. I will sell the offspring to help me settle my financial needs.