I currently don’t have even a single goat in my compound, which is something I’ve always wished to change. Goats are incredibly helpful, especially in times of financial need. That’s why my new goal is to own as many goats as possible, which I will keep in my compound. However, buying them all at once is challenging since my main source of income, a college business, is no longer as profitable as it used to be. To achieve this goal, I’ve decided to join a savings group where I contribute $20 every month from the transfers. This will help me gradually save enough to start purchasing goats. Once I own them, I believe a lot of my financial stress will disappear. Even if this program ends, I’ll have a reliable source of income because I can sell some goats when needed and continue supporting my family. Additionally, the goats will be a great asset in helping me educate my children. Soon, they will be joining secondary school, and I’ll need to be financially prepared to support their educational journey.

I recently joined a savings group in my community, which is made up of trusted members from my village. I contribute $20 monthly to this group when I receive my cash transfer. My goal is to accumulate enough money to buy as many goats as I wish. Right now, I don’t have any goats, but my dream is to have a large herd in my compound. This would give me a reliable asset, especially if this cash transfer program eventually ends. The goats will also help support my seven children, whom I am solely responsible for since my husband passed away a few years ago. As my charcoal business is not very profitable, the goats will be crucial in sustaining other needs in my household, as I have been struggling a lot. I also allocated $20 to pay the examination fees for my seven children, who are all in primary school. I’m grateful that they were able to sit for their exams without the stress of being sent home for unpaid fees, which has often been a concern. Additionally, I used $22 to buy food for my family. This has been vital in helping us get by, especially since we rarely have a good harvest due to the extreme heat in my region. The food supplies have kept us going for some time now, and I am thankful for that.

I have had a goal of buying animals. This is not a small task. Buying a kid goat now is around $25 which will take time before its able to give birth. My plan is to save up to a certain point where I am able to buy the mature goats going for $60 and this will be able to give birth and I can sell them to even buy cows. I know this will allow my family to educate my 7 children who are still in school. I know with the continuous saving I will be able to achieve this goal.

I am a widow with seven school going children. My small charcoal business makes about $5 weekly which cannot sustain our lives bit I have always made it work. Receiving transfers ensured we always had food from my earnings while the transfers went into paying school fees. I was able to pay school fees for my seven children totalling to $30 in the recent months. I was also able to save to my local savings group where I was able to save $60. I was also able to use $12 on food. This has really eased my life tremendously.

I really want to rear cattle, but their prices are very high. Therefore, through GiveDirectly transfers, I want to invest in buying goats, at least one each month. Acquiring these goats will enable me to buy a goat. Since goats multiply very fast, I will sell some and generate money to enable me to buy a bull. I have done research and I am told that once I have $200, this will be enough to buy a grown bull that can help me cultivate my land. In our area, most people plough their land using bulls and, since they are scarce at times, we have to wait, in addition to being costly. I believe this bull will earn me more income because, apart from using it to plough my farm, it will also plough other people's farms and earn me money. Therefore, I am grateful to GiveDirectly for enabling me to have hopes to meet my dream goal.

I really value the merry go round group because it helps me accumulate money to meet my goals. Hence, when I received my recent transfer, I first allocated $60 for my merry go round contribution. I used these funds to buy a goat for rearing because I believe they multiply very fast, and once I have enough, I can sell some to secure my future financially. Additionally, with the remaining transfers, I used $30 to pay fees for my school-going children to ensure they are not sent home for fee balances and have a humble time to study. Finally, I spent $6 to buy food for family consumption to make my family a little happier.

As I said I am a single mother and all my seven children are dependent on me financially. My first born finished class 8 and is meant to join secondary school but is now home waiting for me to get enough finances to enroll for secondary school. I would want all my children to get an education and this is only possible If I get the right finances. I want to buy animals and breed them and then use them as a fund to take my children through school.

I am a single mother of 8, I lost my husband about two years ago. I have been taking care of my children's school fees. I used $28 to pay off the debts accumulated for my children. I used $3 to buy books and in December I made Uniform for my children joining Junior high while in January I bought books at $18 for those who joined Junior high, I also bought books for those in lower primary at $6, I got shoes for my two joining junior high at $8 and also ties at $2. I used $3 in November on food, and $10 in December.

I am looking forward to buying a cow as my first step in starting my own cow farm. I will put in hard work and utilize the funds from my merry-go-round savings to make this investment a success.

As a widowed mother of nine children, seven of whom are attending school, I prioritized their education by using $14 of my recent transfer to cover their school fees. The remaining transfers were contributed to a helpful merry-go-round savings group that I joined in February this year, contributing $20. This financial support has been a valuable resource for me and my family.

What I hope to accomplish in the coming year and beyond is to ensure that my seven children feel comfortable in school and are able to achieve their academic goals. I rely on the transfers to pay their fees on time in order to avoid being sent home. Raising fees for them would have been difficult if it hadn't been for the transfer. My brothers usually help me out, but it's limited because they all have large families to look after. I also plan to buy some goats with any extra money from the transfer. Owning livestock, such as goats, is a good investment for those of us who live in rural areas and rely primarily on small-scale subsistence farming. I can easily sell to raise funds for my children as well.

My recent transfers were mostly used to pay for my seven children's school fees and food. Raising their fees has been difficult given that I do not have a single source of income to help me cover these costs. Also, because I am sick, I am no longer doing casual or menial jobs, and I have been advised not to engage in jobs that require a lot of physical strength. Receiving the transfer was a huge relief for me as a single parent. Since my husband's death, I've received little help from my family. This has made it difficult to meet my family's basic needs, such as food. I'm relieved that I have some money to rely on every month, that I don't have to worry about my family going hungry, and that my children's school fees are taken care of. I am relieved that I was able to pay $20 for some of my children's fee arrears and that they were able to continue their studies. In addition, despite having a large family, I was able to buy enough food to last for weeks for $14. This ensured that my household did not lack food, and my children could now afford to eat three meals a day.

I would like to start a restaurant selling breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In my village, there are no restaurants that a family can visit and enjoy a meal. It would be a great investment and I am sure it can work.

I am a widow, my husband died in 2021 due to illness. Ever since I got married I have been a housewife, my husband was the provider. He worked as a luggage porter in the market, and after his demise, I got into depression. My children were sent away from school and with no money, they stayed home for two months. It was the saddest moment of my life. Thanks to my brother that took me to the hospital and I got better and ever since he has been helping my family. We stay in the same compound and whenever the wife cooks, she cooks for my children too. Receiving this transfer has enabled me to pay school fees that cost me $20 a month and buy food for $10 and the rest I save up for emergencies, it has helped me not strain on my brother.

In my honest opinion, what GiveDirectly is doing well is giving out financial support to the less privileged in society. Through the census, it was clear that our village is the most affected by drought which has led to the death of animals and plantations. Therefore, getting food and water for families has been the greatest challenge for the community. GiveDirectly has given us the freedom to choose how to spend money. As for me, I am so elated that I am now able to pay school fees for my children much more easily than I used to do before I received these transfers. Many of us from the village have agreed to join Chama and merry-go-round to help facilitate our children's education without any struggle.  I feel very happy to be part of GiveDirectly's beneficiaries.

I have used $ 20  of my recent transfer to pay my children's fees while for the remaining $ 10, I  bought more food for the family. I am a mother of 10 children, with 8 already enrolled in school while 2 are yet to start. My biggest challenge as a widow is raising fees for my children due to a lack of a  sustainable income. I have been jobless for the past four years only depending on my in-laws for financial support. Nevertheless, whatever support I get from them, is never enough to support the entire family's basic needs such as fees and It pained me so much how many times my children had been off and on to school due to lack of fees. The struggles to make ends meet began immediately after the death of my husband in 2015 when he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I had to sell all my livestock to raise his medical bill, including 15 goats and 5 cows. However, all the sacrifices bore no fruit, he succumbed to cancer eventually. Therefore, receiving my last transfer became of great help as it brought happiness and enhance good relationships among my children unlike before, the family can now enjoy decent meals which had improved their health and they currently attend their classes without fear of being sent back home for fees.

I had just returned home from fetching water at 4 p.m. when I received the cash transfer message from Give Directly. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders because my family would finally eat after a night and day of starvation due to a lack of money to buy food. The money would help lessen the hunger.

Before the transfer, my eight children were frequently pulled out of class to collect overdue school fees. In fact, the morning following the transfer, they were all sent home to pick up mid-term examination fees. The transfer allowed me to clear these charges and they were able to take their tests peacefully. Besides, they have never been pulled out of class again to collect any pending amount.

Since my husband died, my younger brother, a casual laborer in Mombasa, took on the mantle of supporting my eight children and me, alongside his family. Every Saturday, he sends me KES 2,000 for household expenses. However, the amount hardly takes the family of thirteen through the entire week. As a matter of fact, by the time I received the transfer, the household had run out of food the previous day due to a lack of money. We had starved the entire day. So, I spent KES 670 to procure foodstuffs that lasted till my brother sent money for more. Additionally, I used the remaining amount to pay mid-term examination fees for my eight children who had been sent home that morning to collect the amounts. Am glad that they managed to take their tests this week, courtesy of the cash transfer.