My main goal is to start a livestock rearing project where I had already bought a few goats to start me off. I would want to be a farmer venturing in livestock and I plan to accomplish this by spending part of my monthly transfers in purchasing goats and later buy cows knowing that they would be of help in the future in case I would be faced with any financial difficulties.

I currently don't have a house of my own since the one I had collapsed and I have been staying with my children. Therefore the transfers that I received were of great help to me because I got an opportunity to buy roofing sheets in readiness to build the house. I bought the iron sheet worth KES.2000 and added to the ones that I already had and in the next few weeks, I shall have started the construction. I also managed to buy food with the remaining amount of KES. 1470 for my family since getting food was a also another challenge.

After I got enrolled into the program I decided that I would use this opportunity to grow my farm so that I could invest more in buying a couple of farm animals which I plan to eventually help me financially down the line. I ended up using KES 2,800 to buy a goat which has so far been my third goat to acquire with transfers. Lastly I ended up using the balance of KES 600 I had to purchase six packets of maize flour so that my children and I could have a meal.

My husband relies on charcoal production to meet the needs of the family, such as food and clothing. Because of the product's low demand, he hardly makes any sales, and if he does, his earnings are not more than KES 2,000 in a month.  It is difficult to provide food for our family of eight on a daily basis with this amount. In fact, the day before the transfer, the family had run out of food. That is why I prioritized obtaining KES 1,000 worth of maize flour. In addition, I spent KES 1,500 on new clothes for my six children and myself. Our old clothes were worn and torn from repeated use, and I was afraid we would get sick from the cold. I used the remaining funds to purchase a hen. My goal is to allow it to breed and grow the flock. In this manner, I will be able to raise funds in the future when I sell the chickens to meet the needs of my family.  

In my opinion, I feel like everything was done perfectly and I wish to thank GiveDirectly on behalf of my villagers for uplifting us. We are so grateful for the transfer as we are capable of providing basic needs for our families compared to previous days when we used to struggle to put at least a meal on the table.

I am a housewife and I have been depending on my husband who is a charcoal burner to provide for me and our six children. Recently, the business has not been an easy one as trees have been depleted due to drought and the fact that this is the major economic activity in the area. Most days, my husband cycles for kilometers in search of trees and it usually takes him around eight days for him to earn a profit of about KES 800. The low income has not allowed us to own livestock and we have been the laughing stock of the village as livestock is seen as a source of wealth and majority of people in my village own livestock. When I was enrolled into the program, my first goal was to focus on buying goats as they can thrive under tough climatic condition to save us from the shame. I spend KES 2000 to buy a goat and 1000 to buy second hand clothes for my children as their clothes were torn due to regular wash as each owned one pair besides the school uniform.

I was in the kitchen cooking when I got the message confirming that I had received some funds from give directly. This made me feel very happy because I had debts to pay. So, the following day, I went to withdraw the money and headed to school to reduce the children's fees areas.

I see nothing but good ever since I started receiving these funds. So far, I have managed to reduce my children's school fees arrears. currently, I only have a debt of KES600. I believe I will be able to settle it once I get to my second transfer. My children also have new school uniforms and they can now confidently go to school.

To raise our 4children, my husband and I have been collaboratively working as charcoal manufacturers. Our monthly earnings are around KES1500. This, however, was not enough when it came to the payment of the children's school fees. So, at the time we were receiving the first transfer, the children had a school fee arrears of KES1000. I, therefore, used KES200 to reduce the debt and the remaining KES1000, I bought some school uniforms for them