My lifelong dream has always been to provide my family with a home that surpasses our current one in both comfort and size. To get closer to this dream, I allocated $51 from my transfers towards purchasing additional building materials for our ongoing construction project. Ensuring my children's education remains uninterrupted is paramount to me, so I set aside $48 to settle their school fees, sparing them the distress of being sent home due to outstanding payments. With the remaining funds, I allocated $8 to securing food for my family, recognizing that nourishment is essential for our well-being and unity.

I remain steadfast in my goal to save for a better and larger home, determined to see our dreams materialize. Concurrently, I will persist in my livestock trading business, which serves as our primary source of income, ensuring that I can continue providing for my family's needs. Through these endeavors, I am driven by a profound sense of responsibility and love for my family, striving to create a brighter future filled with stability and prosperity.

I have been living in a grass-thatched hut for many years, but my dream is to live in a house with an iron roof. At first, this seemed impossible due to our poor financial status. I make a living by selling charcoal, while my husband does casual construction work, and we also have two children to support, one in high school and one in primary school. However, since we started receiving monthly transfers, the burden of paying for our children's school fees has been greatly reduced. As a result, I have been able to use $50 of the recent transfers to purchase four pieces of iron sheets for our new house. I plan to buy more building materials as we accumulate more funds, with a target of at least 30 iron sheets. I am happy to say that I have already managed to buy 15 iron sheets, and I am confident that my husband and I will be able to achieve our goal of building a decent iron-roofed house. In addition to this, I used $34 of the recent transfer to pay for my children's school fees, and I am glad to see them comfortably studying. I also bought four chickens, which I am breeding to sell them and buy goats. So far, with the money I earned from selling the chickens, I have been able to buy five goats. Lastly, I spent the remaining amount on buying food for my family, ensuring that we have enough to eat and can comfortably have three meals a day.

I have been saving up my money to buy iron sheets so that I can build a new house. My current house is made of grass-thatch, which does not look decent, and it leaks whenever it rains. My goal is to build a better house for myself and my family, and I have made it a priority to set aside money for building materials in addition to paying for my children's education. My target is to purchase 30 iron sheets, which will be enough for the house that I need. So far, I have managed to buy 15 iron sheets with the help of my husband, who is also contributing to this project. I am looking forward to having a good house where I will no longer have to worry about the rain and can live a happy life, despite my many financial constraints.

Our home has been in a state of disrepair for many years, and I've been unable to upgrade to a better one. Instead, I've been living in a grass-thatched hut, but I'm determined to change that by building a new house. My long-cherished dream has been to live in a decent house with a sturdy iron roof. My family and I have decided to gradually purchase the necessary building materials, including iron sheets and building poles, to turn this dream into reality. To make this happen, I've been buying three iron sheets every month for $26 each, saving up for the construction of our new home. I'm planning to acquire 25 iron sheets, which should be sufficient for building our new house. Additionally, I have two high school children who had accumulated outstanding tuition fees that were putting their education at risk. I'm delighted that I was able to pay $40 towards their fee arrears, relieving them of any further interruptions due to unpaid fees. With the remaining funds, I made another investment by purchasing two chickens. I intend to raise these chickens and eventually sell them as part of a poultry project. The income from this venture will contribute to the construction of our new house, bringing us one step closer to realizing our goal.

The dwelling that has provided me shelter is in a dire state. It consists of a grass-thatched roof, and my constant concern is that it becomes uninhabitable whenever it rains. My aspirations of constructing a more suitable home were shattered by a severe drought that struck the area. At that time, my main focus was on procuring food for my family and ensuring my children's education. Fortunately, the drought had subsided, and I was able to cultivate my farm, yielding a bountiful harvest. With the issue of food scarcity resolved, I can now turn my attention towards building a new house. To initiate this endeavour, my plan is to acquire 25 iron sheets, which should be sufficient for a decent house. Subsequently, my husband, who is also benefiting from this program, and I intend to purchase three iron sheets every month. Building a house with a sturdy iron roof will not only grant me peace of mind during rainy seasons but will also spare me the laborious task of constantly replacing the grass.

In February of this year, my daughter Halua joined junior high school. As parents, both her father and I were responsible for providing her with the necessary study materials, including a desk, before she could begin her learning journey. Unfortunately, our financial situation made it challenging to fulfill this requirement until recently when I received a cash transfer from Give Directly. I contributed $17 from the cash transfer towards the purchase of a new desk for Halua. I am delighted that she is now settled and equipped for her studies. Additionally, there were outstanding debts of $4 for examination fees and $6 for building a new toilet at her school, which her father and I had been unable to raise. His job of selling livestock only provided enough for our basic food needs and nothing more. However, with the cash transfer, I was able to pay off the examination fees, allowing Halua to take her end-of-term exams. Lastly, I utilized the remaining $7 to purchase two hens for rearing. This investment provides us with the potential for a sustainable source of income in the future. I am hopeful that the hens will thrive and contribute positively to our family's financial stability.

My primary objective is to ensure the education of my two children, one of whom is currently in grade seven and the other in form two. Their academic journey and successful completion of high school are my top priorities at the moment. Education plays a crucial role in shaping the future of my children, opening doors to opportunities and providing them with a solid foundation for a better life. However, due to the lack of a steady and reliable source of income, my focus remains steadfast on utilizing cash transfers to ensure the uninterrupted education of my children.

Before the transfer, I had accumulated school fees arrears of $46000. I have five children who are in school, and getting school fees for all of them has been a challenge for the longest time. The money I make from my charcoal production business is not enough to cater to my family's needs. I get help from my husband who is a livestock broker, he buys livestock on every market day and sells them for a profit. He gets $5 as profit which is always used for school fees or medical expenses. Receiving this transfer has enabled me to buy goats that I would sell when the schools are opened and pay school fees for my children.

My long-term goal is to build a new house, the one that I currently live in is tiny and one side is collapsing. I plan on paying the school fees arrears and saving up for a two-roomed house. My other short-term goal is to buy chicken rear them and sell them at the market twice a month.

I was glad to receive the most recent transfer because it relieved me of the difficult task of feeding my family and paying school fees for my daughter and son. I have been walking to and from the forest the entire time, digging out trunks and burning charcoal to sell later in the nearby shopping centers. Even though the return has been so low, I would do it again if I did not have another source of income. I am pleased that the transfer from GiveDirectly has made it easier for me to pay my children's school fees on time and to buy enough food for them. I paid $10 for my daughter and the remaining $20 for my son in secondary school, with the last transfer I received. They are thankful that they are now attending all classes and that they will be able to sit for their examination at the end of the term.

My son had just completed his primary education in March and was required to have joined high-school by the next month but since we did not have funds at that moment we could not afford to send him to school. Luckily a few weeks into the month of April the organisation decided to send as the transfers and I was overwhelmed with so much joy because this meant that my son could finally go to school just like the other kids. I used KES 2,000 and bought him some material for joining school which included blankets, towel, uniform and even stationery. Afterwards I was left with KES 1,000 which I gave him to use as his transportation fee to school while my husband used his transfers to settle some of the debt in tuition fee.

This organisation is doing so well in my regards because the donations I received have so far helped me tremendously because for instance my son was lucky enough to join school in due time and were it not for me receiving the funds when I did, we would have failed sending him to school early enough because we had no money at the time. My child was so happy and as a parent that made me happy as well.

I am unemployed with three children and have been cooking “maandazi” and selling them in my neighborhood as my primary source of income. My husband is a livestock trader and business has been on the low due to the hard economic times and drought. On a good day, I make as much as KES 100 as profit because the price of cooking oil and wheat flour has gone up. My husband has been struggling on good days. He will afford a meal which is a 2kg packet of maize flour and 200gms of sardines. On receiving the cash transfer, I bought two cocks for KES 1000 and bought food with KES 2000.My plan is to keep the cocks for a week or more and sell them at a higher price of KES 1000 each, with the profit earned can help my husband in providing a meal for my family of five members.

I have lived in a one room grass thatched house (makuti) for the last 10 years. The oldness of the structure has made the roof weak and in case of the heavy rains expected it just might leak and collapse. I Intend to use the funds to start poultry farming, which will be an investment in the future and also allocate some towards educating my children and some in buying the building materials to start my two-roomed house and a verandah.

I had just finished taking my dinner when I had a message notification tone. One of my daughters told me she had received her GiveDirectly funds. Due to my illiteracy, she took the phone from me and read to me the Mesa message. We were happy that day as a family because we all had received our funds unexpectedly.