Leveraging my tailoring abilities, I am embarking on establishing a tailoring business to generate income and provide support for my family. With a goal of launching the venture this June, I am diligently saving funds to cover expenses such as purchasing clothing materials and renting a shop space. Having already secured a sewing machine, I am focused on accumulating the necessary resources to ensure the successful setup and operation of the business. Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude for the financial assistance that has significantly improved the quality of life for my family.

In January, my daughter Joyce began her secondary school journey. To ensure her smooth transition, I allocated $54 from my transfers to procure the necessary school uniforms, shoes and school fees. I am thankful that she is now enrolled and progressing in her education, all made possible through the assistance provided by the transfers. Additionally, I purchased new pairs of shoes for my two younger children, currently attending primary school, for a total of $6. Furthermore, I allocated $8 towards purchasing essential household items such as detergent and sugar. Unfortunately, our family of five was affected by an outbreak of an eye disease, necessitating medical treatment and the purchase of over-the-counter drugs amounting to $24. Recognizing the potential of livestock as an investment, I dedicated $10 to purchase four hens. This investment has proven fruitful, as the number of hens has since doubled to eight. I am immensely grateful for the financial support provided through the transfers. It arrived at a crucial time when my husband was on probation, awaiting permanent employment. The funds proved invaluable, enabling me to settle school fees for my daughter who was preparing to sit for her primary national examinations. For this assistance, I am deeply thankful.

Before I joined the program, my aspiration was to establish my own tailoring business. However, due to the financial constraints related to my three children's school fees and my husband's unstable employment, I couldn't pursue this dream. Although I'm a trained tailor, I've been working in a neighbor's tailoring shop for some time. I'm happy that my husband recently secured stable employment, which has alleviated our financial burdens significantly. Now, I'm planning to save a portion of my monthly transfers and use them to gradually purchase the necessary textile materials, with the goal of opening my own tailoring shop. This endeavor will enable me to be self-employed, serve my own clients, and contribute to our family's financial stability alongside my husband.

I have experienced significant financial hardship in my household, and without the financial aid given, I am not sure how my children would have been able to stay in school. My husband had been the primary provider, but he had gone unpaid for nearly five months. I was deeply concerned that my children would face frequent school suspensions due to unpaid fees, especially considering my own lack of a steady income. To make ends meet, I've been working at a friend's tailoring shop, but the earnings are insufficient to cover all our family's expenses. I want to express my gratitude to GiveDirectly because, despite these financial hardships, I was able to pay my children's school fees on time thanks to the transfers that I received. I spent $100 to clear their fees, allowing them to remain in school without the fear of being sent home. Furthermore, I also used part of the transfer to purchase new school uniforms for $10, as their previous ones were worn out. I spent the remaining amount on purchasing essential food items such as sugar, beans, and other necessities that were lacking in my household.

I am a trained tailor, and my ambition has always been to open my own tailoring shop with enough textile materials to serve a large clientele. I am currently tailoring at home in the village, but I have few customers. Furthermore, I do not have enough textile materials to run my shop efficiently and profitably. I intend to relocate to the trading center, where I will be guaranteed more customers and thus more income. My husband is confident about getting a teaching job, which will benefit us by making it easier to meet our most basic needs, giving me a good opportunity to invest my transfers in the tailoring business.

My priority has always been paying my children's school fees since I began receiving the transfers. Raising the fees for them was difficult because I relied on my husband, who has yet to find work after graduating from college. I also run a tailoring business, which isn't doing well enough to support my family and pay bills. The transfer allowed me to pay off my three children's elementary school fees. I was able to pay their fees on time, allowing them to stay in school without interruptions due to fees. For their sake, I've been paying $ 28 every month. I am confident that their education will not be halted, as it was previously when they were sent home for failing to pay on time. Furthermore, I have been using the transfers to purchase foodstuffs such as maize flour and other cereals, ensuring that food is always available in my household. We are currently experiencing difficult economic conditions, with rising commodity prices making it difficult to afford basic necessities such as food. However, the transfer has assisted me in overcoming this, and I am pleased that my children are well fed and that there is no food shortage in my household.

We are eternally grateful to GiveDirectly for the support that we receive each month. This transfer has given us as a family the necessary support to fulfill most of the things that we would otherwise have found it hard to meet. My plan for the coming year and beyond is to start a small business where I will be selling food items among other non food items within my compound. I also have plans of running a tailoring shop alongside this business. I had planned to start this by January this year but after my husband lost his job, all the family's needs are now on my table. With GiveDirectly transfers that I get each month, I can only pay school fees and meet other educational needs for my three children who are in their primary level of education. I was lucky that my husband had already bought me a sewing machine by the time he lost his teaching job. I am also very optimistic that he will soon secure a government job and help me start this business as soon as possible. In the meantime, GiveDirectly transfers shall help me pay school fees for our three little children. Had I not been receiving this transfer, then life for me and my family would have been too tough already especially after my husband lost his job. I am targeting to raise $150 as starting capital for the small shop business while the tailoring part shall come in way later after I have made some reasonable profits in this business.

My goal of one day owning a business has always been there; the only obstacle was money. I recently finished a course in tailoring, and while I practice it, I still haven't mastered it. Consequently, I don't earn much money from it. I have been saving $15 per month for the five months that I have gotten funding from GiveDirectly in an effort to raise money for opening a retail store. Unfortunately, family disputes forced me to return to my parental home before I could start the business. I'll set it up in two months, maybe, if we can resolve the issue. I've been feeding my family with the $15 I have left over each month. After a year, I want to have honed my tailoring abilities, and I'll use the money from the retail store to fully equip the sewing shop. Our household will benefit greatly from the money from the two businesses.

In my opinion GiveDirectly does very well by giving aid in form of cash. I am particularly so happy that I have been empowered and that I will be able to open up my own business soon. This is something that I never thought it would be a reality soon. Were it not for my father who was involved in an accident, then I would have started the business already. I am just so delighted that GiveDirectly saw it good to come to us.

I used $15 to visit my father who had been involved in a road accident and was recuperating at home and used another $10 to buy food for my family. The amount that remained of $5 was used to pay school fees for my children who are still in their primary level of studies. I am a mother of three children and a trained tailor. After my training though, I have not been able to practice tailoring since I did not have enough money to do this. We have been relying on my husband who runs a business and since most of the things were reliant on him, we could end up straining to meet all our needs. I am happy that nowadays I can easily chip in and give him a helping hand- many thanks to GiveDirectly transfers. I have plans of starting my tailoring work soon enough but first of all my focus is on opening up a small shop where I will be able to sell general industry goods like foodstuff. I am looking forward to saving more money from the transfers and starting this business before end of the year.

That day, one of my immediate neighbors, who could not read or write, came to me for help with her Mpesa account. She was convinced that even though she did not know how to use her phone, she could have received her transfers. When I checked her phone, I was surprised to see that she had received her transfer. That prompted me to look at my phone. I was overjoyed as soon as I received confirmation of my transfer. That day is still fresh in my memory. I was able to meet my family's immediate needs as a result of the transfer, such as paying my children's school fees.

My children had outstanding school fees by the time I received my transfers. I had no idea how I would be able to raise funds to offset them because my other sources of income were insufficient. However, it would only allow me to purchase food for my family. I have had peace of mind since I was able to pay off my children's school fees. Hence, I have had good involvement in the charcoal-making business and my support to the family has increased.

I spent KES 200 on chicken feed after receiving my transfer. I currently run a poultry farm, albeit with a small number of chickens. I am relieved that my domestic fowl is doing well, and I am hopeful that they will be beneficial to me in the long run. The remainder of the transfer was used to pay off my three children's accrued school fees. I spent KES 570 on their fees, with the remaining KES 400 going toward uniforms for my last-born child. I am extremely grateful to GiveDirectly for its assistance.