Yes i plan to venture into maize farming to eradicate hunger within my family and sell the surplus to cater for other expenses like schools fees for her four children and any other upcoming daily bills

Not visiting the field to ascertain the use of the money

Bought a dairy cow and seeds

It was around 9 am when I received a message on my phone. On an immediate check-up since I was curious to know who might have sent me one that morning. To my surprise, it was a message from GiveDirectly bearing the good news I had been expecting. At that moment, I was planting maize on my farm and could see my neighbors running around trying to withdraw while others needed to confirm from their family friends whether they had received the same amount. Since I had all plans in place, withdrawing immediately was not necessary for me, so I kept working till midday when I got back home to prepare lunch for my children who were coming back from school. We shared the joy after informing them that even though the elder one could not believe it until I showed him my account balance. I withdrew after a week as I was anticipating the market day where I withdrew and purchased a cow right there.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the added breed to my dairy project. This is so satisfying and a dream come true to me since I have been hoping for such a time where I can work on the project with a plan to improve my saving plan that, in turn, will help in settling household bills, serving emergencies, and also paying school fees for my four children who are actively schooling at the moment. I am grateful for this far and looking forward to doing a lot more in the future.

Dairy farming has been one of the projects I have been hoping to invest more in for a long time, but I have not been able to do this since I have never gotten enough capital to secure a good breed. Before receiving the transfer, I already had two cows - a lactating one and five months in-calf heifer. I spent the first KES 30000 out of my transfer on securing another good breed that will soon calf down as it was already expectant when I bought. The three cows will ensure consistency in milk production in our household that will not only serve the household purposes but also earn an extra income to support my family of six. I also came back from the market with three sacks of maize each at KES2800 that has saved me the daily expenditure on the small quantities I used to buy. I have directed these savings to the two informal saving groups that we started within the village with my close friends. When my children heard that the transfer was already in, everyone was excited as they needed new clothes that I had promised to buy them. I then spent KES 10000 on buying at least a pair for each member of the household - a gesture that left everyone appreciating and thanking GiveDirectly for this generous support. I saved the remaining amount to fund the savings group to cushion me from the penalty that I could have faced in case of a failure to submit my contribution.