I mentioned that I am a member of a merry go round and I intend to continue putting my money into this group. We are twenty members so far each contributing $20 monthly. When we give an individual their turn of the money someone receives $400. This is such a huge amount. My plan is to continue using my transfers to contribute here so that at the end of it I will get my $400 which I will pump into the business and also get animals for rearing which are an advantage for me so that I can sell them off when my children need money for school.

My life has had a great transformation by being in the Givedirectly program. Before being enrolled by Givedirectly in their program I had a business. I did not have a lot of money to run the business and make it attractive to buyers. When I started receiving transfers I spent a good portion working on it that now I can say it is an okay business. I still add to it from time to time. I spent $14 from my February transfers on adding to this business. I joined a merry go round to which I have made a contribution of $60 in the last three months. Two of my children are school going I spent $14 from my January transfer to get them into school. In December I bought my two youngest shoes and clothes at $7.5 while $6.5 bought some food.

Once I receive my contribution from the merry-go-round, I will expand my retail shop business by diversifying and adding more stock of items on high demand. Additionally, there's a secondary school under construction in the village, set to open next year. I'm sure I will be fully prepared to supply their needs. Eventually I will have secured a bright future for my children and alleviate my financial burdens. I will then build a bigger house for my family as our current home is quite small and insufficient to accommodate my entire family. Following these plans, I intend to acquire two bulls for the purpose of expanding our ploughing capacity. Currently, we can only plough two acres of our six acre piece of land. We will also provide ploughing services to other farmers, generating an extra income for our family.

My wife currently stays at home and has been struggling to secure employment. During the rainy season, she fortunately engages in farming, providing food for our family. On the other hand, I operate a modest village shop. Before receiving the transfers it could not generate a substantial income, making it challenging to cover our household expenses. The GiveDirectly transfers I receive every month have been a blessing to my family. Each month I invest $14 for my shop business. This has not only boosted our income but has also contributed to addressing our household needs. Additionally, two of my children are in school, and I have allocated $10 from the monthly transfers to cover their education expenses. Further more, I've also joined a merry-go-round group, comprising of ten members, where I'm able to contribute $10 every month just like every other member. This collective effort is a promising way that will enable me to accumulate a more substantial sum of money to attain my goals.

As I look ahead to the coming year, my main focus is on improving the small business I currently run by buying more stock and hopefully extending it. However, my long-term goal goes beyond just the business itself. I aspire to invest in two oxen that will greatly aid in land tilling, seizing the opportunity presented by the high demand for such services and the scarcity of available oxen. With these mighty creatures by my side, I hope to provide an invaluable service to the community while securing a brighter future for myself and my small business.

When I received this month's cash transfer, I made sure to save $20 in the savings group I've been a part of for the past six months. The group is made up of 30 people, and once we reach a certain savings threshold, we become eligible for a loan. The thought of using that loan to invest in my small business filled me with excitement and determination. In addition to saving, I took care of some pressing matters by paying off $10 in school fees arrears for my two children, who are in grade one and two. I spent the rest of the transfer on food for my family of five.

I have a big piece of land that I always cultivate but it had been more costly for me since I always hire livestock(cows)from a friend at a higher fee to help me with the land cultivation. But in the next one year, I would want to have my own two cows to help me with the cultivation work and one dairy cow as well believing that the profits I would be getting from selling the milk would be of great help in terms of fending for my family. And to achieve this, I would continue saving part of my monthly transfers to a certain amount that would be enough for the purchase of the livestock

I received the transfers at a time when I was financially straining. I had two of my children in school who needed school fees and getting money for food was also a challenge. Upon receiving the transfers, I bought food worth $14 and, managed to pay $10 for school fees and deposited $10 to my savings account to help me with my future project and I currently feel a bit of relief.

I am married with four children. The support program has enabled me to open a small shop within my village but hardly get enough to sustain my family of six members. I have spent most of my cash transfers on food and school fees. Recently, I joined a savings group that takes up $10 of the cash transfers, leaving me with $20 for any other expenses. Drought has affected this village and food is a major challenge. I spent $12 to buy food, which would last for a week, and the remaining balance of $8 was used to settle the school fees arrears for my child.

Nourishment has been one of the biggest concerns for me and my family especially due to persistent drought. Meanwhile the cost of living has gone extremely high which makes things even more tough for me and my family. Therefore when I received the transfers I went ahead to purchase four packets of maize flour which cost me KES 1,000. I also happen to own a store so I used KES 1,040 from the transfers I had to add more more stock to my store so I purchased sugar, tea leaves, maize flour just to mention a few. Afterwards I used KES 800 to pay a debt in tuition fee since my child had been kicked out of school two days prior to receiving the funds. I am still left with about KES 160 which I have yet put to use.

GiveDirectly is doing well because through this funds,so many of us have achieved our small goals and changed our lifestyle. In my village I can attest that some have started small business which is an empowerment to meeting our basic needs like having atleast a decent meal once in a day and educating our children. I have not seen anything that this organisation is doing wrongly.

I have been in business for more than two years ,I own a grocery shop .Recently when I received the cash transfer I used the whole amount to buy more stock .I bought tealeaves,sugar and maize flour in wholesale because those are the commodities that are high in demand and I almost ran out of stock which is not good for business.

I was sitting outside my shop waiting for customers when I received the message confirming the received of the transfers from give directly. I had placed an order of KES8780 for some items but I only had KES8280. So, my plan was to sell more products so I may get the KES500. This plan was changed since I had the money. I immediately topped it up with what I had and got the goods I ordered for. The remaining amount helped with the purchases of some nourishment for my family. I felt relieved

The biggest difference I have witnessed in my life from the funds I received is that my business is now operating smoothly and my wife, who is still in maternity, can feed well.

In January 17th, my wife put to bed a set of twins, making me a father of four girls. One of my children is in kindergarten the others are yet to start school. My job as a shopkeeper hasn't been bringing in much. So, at the time I had some financial constraints and providing for my family was a challenge. My wife, who was on maternity, also had special needs. Therefore, when I received the funds from give directly, I used KES700 for food purchases and KES500 to top up the amount I had so I could purchase more stock for my shop.