With food security ensured for my family, I am now looking to return to selling charcoal to supplement our income. The earnings from this endeavor will be directed towards settling the substantial school fees debt accumulated by my six children. Clearing this debt is essential for creating an optimal learning environment, reducing the likelihood of their being sent home due to outstanding fees. I am exceedingly pleased with the financial support I've received, as it has significantly enhanced my capacity to provide for and support my family.

As a casual laborer, my primary source of income comes from selling charcoal, a job I pursue during the dry season. During the rainy months, I shift my focus to farming maize, ensuring an ample food supply for my family. Since April of last year, I have dedicated myself to farm work, and the effort has paid off handsomely. The food reserves I've accumulated are sufficient to sustain my family of 10 for the next year. While farming has been fruitful, my earnings from selling charcoal have been insufficient. Consequently, I've heavily relied on the financial support provided through transfers to meet our other basic needs. With six children currently attending school, I allocated $68 to settle school fee arrears, ensuring their continued education. Moreover, I settled a $5 debt incurred through the purchase of a solar light on hire purchase, which has significantly improved lighting in my home compared to traditional lamps. Additionally, I invested $29 in purchasing a goat, recognizing its potential as a future asset. As the goat multiplies, so does my initial investment, providing a potential source of income or emergency funds. I am deeply grateful for the financial support received through transfers, as it has been instrumental in enabling me to provide for my family's needs effectively.

My primary source of income has been the laborious activity of producing and selling charcoal. However, this has been both physically exhausting and detrimental to my well-being, with no significant returns. As a result, meeting the financial needs of my six children's education has proven to be a difficult task. Furthermore, even providing basic necessities such as food has proven to be difficult. Given that the program's goal is to improve our quality of life, I intend to open a shop or engage in retail business. This new venture has the potential to generate a steady stream of income. I have also put in a lot of effort in farming, and the rewards have been great. A bountiful harvest has guaranteed an ample food supply for my family. At the moment, I am in a good position to save more money and open the proposed shop. This business not only has the potential to address my basic needs but also holds the key to funding my children's education.

I spent my most recent transfers on buying a goat, paying school fees for my six children, and also buying enough food for my family. As the primary provider for my family, I bear the responsibility of sustaining our needs despite lacking a stable and reliable income source. I've long relied on the arduous and detrimental task of producing and selling charcoal, which not only takes a toll on my physical well-being but also jeopardizes my health. It may be difficult for me to raise fees for my children once I am no longer doing these menial jobs. I thus bought the goat for $34 and added it to my existing herd. With a hopeful outlook, I anticipate that these goats will multiply over time, offering a potential avenue for generating income. I am hopeful the goats will help me alleviate the challenges associated with financing my children's education as they advance through their studies. In addition to this, my children were also resuming their studies, and I did some shopping for them. I took $30 and spent it on stationery, new uniforms, and paying their fees. The satisfaction of witnessing them comfortably engaged in their schooling provides me with a window of opportunity to plan for the next payment. Finally, I purchased enough foodstuffs, such as maize flour, sugar, and some cereals, to ensure my family was well-fed and never lacked food.

I have four children who are currently enrolled in school, and it has been difficult for me to raise funds for their education. Receiving financial assistance from GiveDirectly has been extremely beneficial because I have been able to pay fees on time thus far. I am a subsistence farmer with no income, and I rely heavily on the transfer to pay for my children's school fees. By avoiding late fees, I intend to use the transfers to ensure that my children receive the best education possible. This will ensure that my children stay in school and that their education is not disrupted due to fees.

I used my recent transfers to pay for my children's school fees, as well as to purchase food and a goat. I have five children who are currently enrolled in school, and I resolved to pay for them on time. I usually pay $22 per month, which has allowed them to continue their education. They are no longer sent away because the transfer covered their fees and reduced their arrears. The transfer also allowed me to purchase some food, such as maize flour and other cereals. Despite the financial difficulties that come with not having a job and relying solely on subsistence farming, the transfer has ensured that my household has enough food. In addition, after saving the transfer for a few months, I purchased a goat. I now own three goats, and I believe that once they reproduce and multiply in number, I will be able to sell them and educate my children.

I plan to acquire more cattle to supplement my unstable source of income, which is making and selling charcoal for $ 120 per month. My ambition is to guarantee that my children receive an education, as stipulated by the Kenyan constitution. I want to accomplish this by purchasing ten additional goats, which may quickly multiply, resulting in more cash to pay my children's school fees as well as food for a family of ten. So far, I own one goat, and I intend to utilize my subsequent transfers to purchase more goats. As a result, my children will not be forced to stay at home owing to unpaid tuition, as occurred to my seventh-grade child.

To provide for my wife and six children, I make and sell charcoal for a living. The process of making charcoal takes a lot of time and physical effort, which makes me spend most days in the bushes cutting trees to prepare the product. In a good month, I can earn at most $100. Sadly, this amount can hardly provide a months-worth of food for my family given the rising cost of commodities. Therefore, the cash transfers act as a great supplement to my earnings as they allow me to provide just enough to last until the end of the month. Other than the food, supporting my children’s education is similarly another struggle I endure. When schools closed for Christmas, my children were informed that they would never proceed to the next classes unless they cleared their $70 tuition debt. This broke my heart since educational success is what I most wish for them. I used $20 from the December transfers to reduce the deficit; am glad they were promoted to new classes when schools resumed. This event motivated me to enroll my sixth child in kindergarten. I spent the remaining $14 on food, just as I had spent the entire November transfer. 

The village's way of life is getting harder every day. I support my family financially alone (wife and six children). I make a living by selling charcoal in the village. While running the firm, I deal with several difficulties, the biggest one being harassment by police authorities. I don't make enough money in my job to support my family's requirements in full. My children have been greatly impacted because the majority of them have been sent home because of huge school fee amounts. Recently, five of my children were unable to take their end-of-term examinations because I had not paid the test costs and cleared their outstanding school debt. When I got my transfer, I spent KES 500 on my oldest daughter's sixth-grade exam expenses. As a result, she was allowed to take her final examinations, which she passed with flying colors. I used the last KES 2500 I had left over to buy food for my family in besides covering my test expenses. I prioritized buying food for the family because I was uncertain whether I would get money to buy food for the family in the near future. I'm relieved that we have enough food to survive for the upcoming two weeks. This will give me some breathing room as I contemplate where I might find the money to support my family.

GiveDirectly is honestly doing a great job in my opinion because of the financial aid I receive. I barely have a job and with these funds I have managed to keep my children in school unlike before where they would stay home even close to a month while other kids stayed in school. Apart from that, the funds have enabled me to clear my debts much quicker.

My children had actually been kicked out of school for close to a week before I received the funds the organisation. So as soon as I received the money my first priority was to ensure that I paid the school fees I owed the school so that my children would be allowed back to class. I paid KES 2,000 to the school for my four children and luckily they agreed to let them join the other students although I had not completely cleared the debt. I was left with a balance of KES 1,000 which I used to pay a part of my debt since I had acquired a solar panel on loan and was required to pay an installment of KES 60 per day for six months. So far I'm left with a debt of KES 14,000 to finish paying for which I plan on doing so over time.

It was late at night before going to bed when I heard a beep from my phone.I checked my phone and was happy and confused to see the mpesa message. My confusion was I never believed in getting the funds because most of the support programs don't own up and keep their promises.I was delighted to share the good news with my wife who also confirmed her receipt of the same. It was one of the beautiful nights because we all slept happy and eager to spend our cash the next day.

Being able to pay for my solar subscription is the major difference in my life.It is important that my home had the experience of light and will continue to have light because of the cash transfers received.Working as charcoal burner and receiving a minimum of KES 2000 in every three weeks has limited me to many financial obligations.It is tiring and my age is not ideal for the charcoal burning business. My plan is to work together with my wife to accomplish the mission of educating all our children and start on goat farming which will free both of us from the charcoal business.

Solar Light have been of great importance in my home.I have children who prefer reading at night and with the kerosene going up ,it is expensive to use lamps.I had taken solar lights on credit and in small daily instalments am expected to pay KES 20,500.I used my transfer of KES 840 to pay for solar lights payment instalment of KES 60 for the next 14 days.I took the KES 300 which remained and bought food for my family of 9 members.