I am the happiest woman alive because my dream of building a house for my family was able to start when I was receiving transfers, our house is an old worn off structure. The rains have been our biggest enemy as it made the state of the house worse by washing off more of the mud wall. I have been working on getting a two room house which will require about 20 sheets of iron. I have so far done 9 sheets and the starting structure has gone up already. My goal is to finish this project this year using the transfers so I am left with more from my transfers to invest in the education of my children getting all my 6 school aged children in school.

Givedirectly has changed the face of education for my children. I have 7 Children with four of them currently in school. Out of my seven children 6 should be in school as they are all above 5 years of age. Before receiving my transfers only two of my children were in school, when I started receiving transfers I was able to get two more through to school. I am hoping to reembark on getting all to school by end of this year. So $20 of my transfers in the recent days have covered schooling for the 4 in school. I also have an ongoing construction project where I spent $44 in, I also have a savings group where I was able to save $20 for future school fee payments and finishing the building project.

My aim is to build a house for my three children. Currently, they live with their uncle because my house is too small to accommodate all seven children in the family. However, their uncle is set to get married towards the end of the year, which may make it challenging for my children to continue sharing a space with him. That's why I've been saving $10 from the monthly cash transfers for the construction of the new house. Early next year, I hope to receive a lump sum from the savings club, which will allow me to start buying the building materials for their new house. After completing their house, I plan to build a new house for myself as well. My current structure is in poor condition, with walls on the verge of collapsing and a corroded tin roof. When it rains, the space becomes damp and uncomfortable to stay in.

I spent $40 to pay school fees for my four children in primary school. There were examination fee debts and tuition fees that needed to be settled before they could sit for their end-of-year examinations. I also saved $30 through a self-help group. My goal is to accumulate enough money to buy building materials for constructing a house for my three children. Currently, they live in their uncle's house. He is planning to get married in December, which could leave my children without shelter. That's why I'm actively saving to build them a new house. I also contributed $10 towards the hospital bills of my mother-in-law, who was in the hospital. I bought four chickens worth $10 to start a poultry-rearing venture, and the remaining $12 went towards buying food. To provide for my family of seven children and me, my husband works as a herdsman, and his income is usually barely enough to cover all our needs. I'm happy that the cash transfers have helped alleviate the burden on his shoulders by allowing me to actively contribute as well. Ever since I started receiving the cash transfers, my children have never missed a day of school. Now, I can use the prospect of monthly cash transfers to persuade the school administration to allow my children to stay in school with a promise to pay the fees when I receive the funds.

My primary goal is to attain improved housing for my family. Presently, we reside in a cramped one-room house that fails to accommodate our large family of 10. The house is in poor condition, with leaks that drench us whenever it rains. In order to address these challenges, I aspire to acquire a spacious two-room house. To realize this objective, I have been diligently saving and intend to persist in my efforts until the start of next year when I hope to commence construction on our new home.

I am deeply grateful to GiveDirectly for the support I received during a time of dire need. As my husband and I rely on charcoal burning and livestock rearing for income, we don't have a reliable source of earnings. With the transfers I received, I was able to make a significant impact on my family's well-being. I managed to pay off a school fees balance for two of my children, ensuring their education continued uninterrupted. Additionally, I purchased food worth $14.70, as our supplies had depleted, and we had gone without several meals in the preceding days. Recognizing the opportunity the rain presented after a long drought, I allocated $10 to invest in farming. The assistance provided by GiveDirectly truly made a difference in our lives, and I am immensely thankful for their support.

In the coming years, I hope to construct a decent, spacious house for my children. Currently, they are sleeping at their uncle's house, which I feel is not right since he has his own family as well. Therefore, I believe that once I get sufficient cash, I will purchase the materials and put up one. This will grant them privacy, and their dignity will also be restored. 

I spent $20 of my recent transfer on clearing the arrears for my five children, who are in primary school. This has been a major challenge considering that I rely on odd jobs to feed my family. For that reason, they have been on and off, which has equally affected their academic performance. I am so thankful to GiveDirectly for the support they have accorded me since all my children are now in school. Also, I bought foodstuff for my family, which cost around $10. My children are now healthier as compared to the previous days. Also, with the remaining amount, I saved for microfinance, whereby I will be able to sort out any emergencies that may arise. 

GiveDirectly did well in enrolling our village because we thought they will never visit our village. I have been struggling to educate all my children. The funds have enabled me to have an agreement with even the school because everyone in this village understands how GiveDirectly has been sending monthly transfers. Hence, my children have had uninterrupted classes because of this support program. I am deeply indebted to all the donors in GiveDirectly.

My husband has been working as a charcoal burner. Lately, it has been a struggle to support our family of five children. With the four children at school, my uncle saw our struggle and sponsored two in their education while I cater to the others. I joined a savings group which a friend advised would allow me to borrow funds whenever I had financial issues. As soon as I received my funds, I paid paid$10 as school fees for the two of my children because I am normally expected to pay $5 for each per term. The $10 was saved in the savings group I joined and the remaining was used to buy food that would last us at least for a few days, as my husband hoped to get a customer to buy a sack of charcoal.

It was around 8.30 p.m. as we were relaxing in the house when I received a notification message from my phone. I gave the phone to my husband who confirmed that I had received some money from GiveDirectly. The news of receiving the transfer for the first time from GiveDirectly made me shed tears of joy. Since we had not eaten anything since morning, I longed for the day to break so that I could buy food for the family.

We had not had any meals for two days, and even on the day I received the transfer, we had not eaten any meal since morning. The transfer enabled us to buy enough food that made us enjoy a balanced diet. Through the GiveDirectly transfers, I am optimistic that my life will continue to change. I plan to use my subsequent transfers to venture into a fish-mongering business to rescue me from the tiresome charcoal business.

I am a mother of seven working as a casual laborer for my livelihood. I live with my mother-in-law, husband, and our seven primary school-going children. My husband, who also burns and sells charcoal for income, is the family’s sole breadwinner. Affording decent meals has been our biggest challenge due to a lack of sustainable income. We sometimes go for even three days without food because the proceeds from the charcoal we burn are never reliable. Sleeping hungry makes us lack peace of mind and happiness in the family. Using the transfers from GiveDirectly, I bought enough food worth KES 3000 for the family thus enabling us to have a sufficient supply of food in the house.