I have had to do some improvements to my house but we are yet a long way far from the house being usable. I have a mud house, which means my house will continue to be washed down by the rain. I plan to spend my coming transfers on bricks to create a foundation of bricks for that house. I cannot estimate the amount of money I need but thanks to Givedirectly I am able to plan around these construction work as my cash transfers come in.

My house would be still leaking had it not been for Givedirectly transfers. I am so thankful that my house was repaired as a result of receiving Givedirectly transfers, I used $34 to pay for the repair of my grass thatched roof that had been washed down during the rainy season and it was leaking then. I now have a roof that does not leak and can live in the house even during the rains. I bought food using the transfers at $29. I spent $20 on my motorcycle business. I also got myself a new pair of shoes at $15.

In the upcoming year and beyond, my primary aspiration is to gather the resources needed to build a family. The motivation behind this goal stems from a deep-seated desire to share my life with a partner and create a loving home. Feeling both lonely and mature enough to embrace the responsibilities of family life, I am determined to make this dream a reality. My focus will be on financial stability and emotional readiness, ensuring that when the time comes, I can provide a nurturing environment for my future wife and children. As I embark on this journey, the prospect of building a family becomes a beacon of purpose, propelling me forward in the pursuit of a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Receiving the recent unconditional cash transfer was a game-changer for me. I decided to allocate part of it to address a pressing issue: my broken-down motorcycle. I used the funds to purchase the necessary spare parts and pay for the labor needed to repair them. During the time my motorcycle was out of commission, I borrowed a friend's, and though I appreciated the favor, the commission I earned was significantly lower than what I was accustomed to—a mere $1.5. However, with my own motorcycle back in action, I now earn around $5, restoring my main source of income. Being a single man, this motorcycle is not just a means of transportation; it's the lifeline of my livelihood. It's how I make ends meet, and it's also laying the foundation for my future. As I look forward to starting a family soon, the repaired motorcycle ensures a more stable income. I'm not just saving for myself anymore; I'm saving for the family I aspire to build. The unconditional cash transfer has not only fixed my immediate problem but has also set me on a path to financial stability and the ability to meet the needs of the family I hope to have.

My primary source of income is a boda-boda taxi. I have been running this business for two years and am always able to provide for my family. However, things have been difficult for the past week as a result of a recent accident I got involved in. Fortunately, I did not sustain any injuries as a result of colliding with and running over a herd of goats. Even though my motorcycle was damaged, the owner forced me to repay him for the two goats that died on the spot. Nonetheless, I am grateful that the transfer allowed me to cover some of the repayment costs. I am glad I am in good terms with the goat's owner now.

Even though I am still young and single, I made it a priority to use my transfer to build my own home as soon as I received it. I have been staying at my eldest brother's house. My current residence is old, frail, and frequently leaks anytime it rains. It's a grass-thatched and a single-roomed house.  As a result, I spent KES 3,000 from a recent transfer on three iron sheets, giving me a total of 14 iron sheets. I intend to purchase 12 more iron sheets to construct a two-roomed dwelling. I am grateful that I will soon have my own home thanks to the GiveDirectly transfer.

My daily income has decreased drastically as a result of the increase in commodity costs, as I have been unable to operate my motorbike taxi service successfully. As a result, as soon as I received confirmation of my transfer, I considered purchasing food. I spent KES 1000 on buying maize flour and other food items to restock my food stock. I am grateful that, despite difficult economic times, my family of five has been able to eat at least one meal per day, which would not have been possible if I had not been successful in obtaining the transfer. I also set aside KES 2,000 with the goal of purchasing building materials for a new house. The current one is grass thatched and leaks excessively whenever it rains.

My current house has a damaged and leaky roof. Therefore, I entirely commit every transfer I receive towards purchasing iron sheets for constructing a new shelter. I achieve this by depositing the cash at the hardware store that will provide the building materials. So far, I have accumulated around 12000 KES. Although am not certain of the exact required amount, I am confident the mission will be accomplished before year-end.

My parents are aged and unproductive and I am the only person whom they depends on since my other siblings works in a city far away and they do not have reliable jobs. I have been working as a motorcycle rider for a while and my dream has been to buy my own motorcycle because the Ksh 300 that I get as daily commission is not enough to cater for both my needs and those of my parents. I had lost hope because I couldn't afford to raise enough capital on my own nor take loan because I didn't have security to prove. When I was enrolled to the program, I thought of saving my daily commission and Ksh 500 from every monthly transfer to accumulate a reasonable amount and top up with loan so that I can buy a motorcycle. For the two months that I have been receiving the transfers, this has been possible because I usually spend Ksh 2500 to buy enough food to take us through the month. I spend Ksh 2500 of my last months transfer to buy food and saved Ksh 500.

GiveDirectly has done a great deal and not only to me but to my community as well because you can clearly see the growth and how much people are more happy since they get some money and make their own decisions when it comes to how they will spend the money so thank you so much for the opportunity to allow us to develop.

When I received the money the first thing I thought of was putting some money away as part of my savings since my profession was driving a motorcycle as taxi but since I did not have my own motorcycle I used to borrow from my friends in the village and we would work in shifts and that is why I chose to save up KES 1,900 so that eventually I buy my own and earn more money since I would not work in shifts anymore. The drought has also really affected the harvest in the farm and that is why I spent KES 1,100 and bought a bag of maize flour which contained twelve packets.

I had been trying to pay the store keeper in our area for a while, so when the money came in I was genuinely happy because I could at least finally show him that I kept my word and could be trusted and also I could stop worrying about the next meal in our home because I had to provide for my mother.

I would say keeping my word and paying my debt was very important to me and after I could clear what I was owed by the storekeeper I felt more confident even in talking to them and most definitely created a sense of trust among us and made our friendship more great because I ended up keeping my word and I could stop worrying.

When I received the transfers I immediately decided to first settle my debts with the store keeper who had been lending us some help through provision of some materials in his store like maize flour when we were hungry back home and this includes me, my mother and brother. So I paid him KES 1000 for the items I had borrowed when I had no money. I also bought maize flour worth KES 1100 which was a dozen packets. Our village also has scarcity of drinking water so I sent a motorcycle rider to get me six gallons of water and plus his payment it went for KES 230. As for the rest of the money I used it in buying vegetables that we needed day to day like cabbages, kales and even tomatoes which was almost close to KES 670 because it was day to day.