I currently live in a one-room house that is in poor condition, with a leaking roof. My main goal for the upcoming year and beyond is to build a new, more durable house using bricks. There are six of us living in the house - my spouse, myself, and our four children. As my children are growing up, I am working hard to move from a one-room to a two-room house to provide more privacy and space for them. My husband is currently unemployed, so I have joined a merry-go-round to save enough for our house construction project. I plan to build a stone house, which will boost our self-esteem. Additionally, I sell beans, sugar, and tea leaves in my house, and I want to expand my small shop to serve our customers' needs better. I believe the profit I earn will be enough to gradually add more items to the shop.

Upon receiving my most recent transfer, I felt a wave of relief knowing that my children needed money for their school fees. They had just been sent for the remaining fee balances, and I was worried about how to cover the costs. Just as I was pondering where to get the money to pay the school, my phone vibrated with a notification confirming that the transfer had come through. My first priority was to pay their fees so that they could return to school immediately. I spent $1000 to cover the fees for all three of them. In addition, I purchased $37 worth of food to ensure we had enough to eat while we worked to support our family. I used $25 of the transfer to repay a loan from our merry-go-round group and set aside $20 for emergencies. With the remaining $10, I bought sandals for myself and my children, as well as a chicken for my poultry project.

I currently have one house that has one room. We live six of us in the house and it's becoming too small and uncomfortable for all of us. My husband is currently unemployed, so I decided to join a merry-go-round to save enough for our house construction project. I plan to build a stone house, which will boost our self-esteem. Currently, I sell beans, sugar, and tea leaves in my house. Additionally, I want to start my own shop to sell more without people disturbing my entire family when they come to buy. I believe with the money I earn, I can educate my children well and provide them with a balanced diet.

As a mother of four children, upon receiving my transfers, I immediately put them to use. I set aside $35 to contribute to my merry-go-round savings, an important step towards starting my house building project. My children's happiness and well-being were my top priorities, so I spent $14 on purchasing new shoes for them. Additionally, I allocated $15 towards their school fees to ensure their education remains uninterrupted. I spent $23 to purchase food that brought joy to our home. With the remaining $15, I hired people to help me till my land and complete necessary farming tasks for our family's welfare and progress.

The structural integrity of my house, particularly the support poles for the roof, has been compromised by termite damage, posing a significant risk to the safety of my family. There is a genuine concern that any impending strong winds could result in the collapse of the roof, exposing us to grave danger. Urgent intervention is imperative to address this imminent threat, necessitating the immediate replacement of the damaged roof poles with new, sturdy ones. To mitigate this looming peril, I am committed to allocating a portion of my forthcoming transfers towards procuring the necessary materials for this essential renovation. Once this critical task is completed, I intend to allocate the remaining transfers towards long-term investments, such as acquiring livestock. This prudent investment strategy will serve as a financial buffer, particularly as my children progress to high school, where the financial demands for their education are expected to escalate. By prioritizing these strategic investments, I aim to safeguard the well-being of my family and secure our future stability.

The transfers I receive have been instrumental in supplementing my modest income, enabling me to fulfill essential household needs and procure food supplies. Moreover, they play a pivotal role in ensuring that my children's educational requirements are adequately met. With three of my children enrolled in school, managing their educational expenses would have posed a considerable challenge given my limited financial resources. However, the transfers facilitate their continuous attendance by facilitating timely payment of school fees and provision of proper school attire. At the onset of this academic year, I allocated $33 from my monthly transfer exclusively towards purchasing school uniforms for all three children. This allocation significantly eased the financial burden, as it covered a substantial portion of the uniform expenses. Consequently, I only needed to contribute towards a fraction of the required fees, which I intend to complete using subsequent transfers. This systematic approach ensures that my children's educational needs are met without undue financial strain

I am filled with excitement and determination to turn my current one-room dwelling into a beautiful, cozy home where my family can thrive. This will not only make my children happy but will boost their self esteem whenever they go out and come back with their friends at home. Previously, I used to sell mandazi but due to unavailable circumstances I was able to stop it for a while and I am planning to restart it again and it gives me hope; promising not just income but a return to something I'm passionate about.

As a devoted mother of four wonderful children, I prioritize their future and our family's well-being. Upon receiving my transfer, I took action accordingly: $10 was set aside in a merry-go-round for their school fees, $14 was spent on providing them with nutritious food to ensure they do not go hungry at school, and the remaining $10 was invested in harvesting and grinding maize. It is all about securing a brighter future and ensuring their daily needs are met.

My home's roof is weak and on the verge of collapsing in the event of a severe wind and this keeps me worried all night long. This happened as a result of some pests attacking the poles that were utilized for the roof. My immediate goal is to get the roof renovated as I plan on building a new house. I've already started setting aside money for this and begun purchasing supplies for the renovations.

Farms must be ready before planting during the current planting season. For $10, I made ready my farm for planting, and planted maize, which is our staple foof and also planted some veggies for my family's consumption. When harvested, this will assist in lowering our food expenditure. Additionally, I spent $13 on medication for my child and myself due to the flu outbreak. I set aside some of the transfer money to pay for my children's school expenses and to repair my ragged roof.

I thank GiveDirectly for all the transfers I usually receive monthly. It is because of the transfers, I can now confidently think of joining a Merry go round. I want to start my monthly savings of $10 and build myself a new home. The current house I have is very old and it can easily fall when a strong wind blows.My ultimate desire this year is to build my family a big house and save enough to start myself a good business.

I am a mother of 4 children and 3 of them are in school but 1 is not of age and is still at home. My husband works really hard but gets little pay. I was really scared that my children would miss school because we had not enough money to take my children back to school. The moment I received GiveDirectly's transfers, the first thing that came to my mind was my children. I took $10 to pay my children's school fees and $10 to buy my children their uniform.The remaining amount of $14 I used to buy food for my family to keep them in good shape.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well by making sure that they visited us and had a physical dialogue before enrolling us. This made us understand so well the objectives of the program in our lives and society in general. Therefore I do not see anything they need to change, all went well.

I spent $12 of my recent transfer on paying fees for my three children in primary schools. It is my pleasure to see them continue with their studies with the rest since they have been staying home for almost two weeks because of the arrears. This has been demoralising and demotivating them for so long and sometimes affecting their performance. I was so worried that they might even drop out which would be a big blow to us as a family. To add to that, I purchased nice clothes and shoes for them so that they can replace the old ones which were torn. Also, I purchased a chicken at $5 which I am currently rearing on my homestead. With the remaining amount of money, I decided to buy foodstuffs for my family of six.

At 10:00 pm, I received a text message on my phone. I had finished eating dinner and was getting ready for bed. When I read the message and realized I had gotten my first transfer, I was confused. In excitement, I leaped up and down next to my bed. I told my better half the wonderful news over the phone. He was really pleased, and we spoke about how to best use the money for approximately an hour.

The transfer was quite helpful in allowing me to pay for my son's school shoes and the tuition for my three children. Going barefoot to school for so long has been painful for my son. He frequently has jigger infestations on his feet, making it impossible for him to attend school. I'm relieved that he has new shoes and that this will no longer be an issue for him.

I earn a living through selling charcoal whereas my husband is a casual laborer building buildings in Mombasa town. Our combined income is insufficient to meet the necessities of the family (buying food, paying school fees and medication). My three primary school-aged children frequently get sent home for not paying their tuition on time. They were sent home a day before I got my first transfer because they owed KES 800 in overdue school fees. I made the decision to pay off the school fee debt as soon as I received my transfer so they could return to class and continue their education. My younger kid, who was attending school barefoot, needed black school shoes, so I used the remaining KES 400 to purchase them. I appreciate it.