I currently reside in a modest mud house, with hopes of providing a better home for my family. Unfortunately, heavy rains recently destroyed our house, leaving us without shelter. Now, I am staying in the maize storage area together with my husband, while my children are with their grandmother. Despite this hardship, construction on our new home has begun, and the foundation is already in place. I am deeply grateful to GiveDirectly for their assistance in realizing our dream of having a proper home, bringing hope for a brighter future for my family.

As a mother of seven children, with five currently enrolled in school, my first priority upon receiving my transfer was their school fees. I took $60 from my transfers to pay for their education. Moreover, I actively participate in a merry-go-round where each member contributes $10 monthly, with the shared goal of saving and investing for our collective betterment. Through this initiative, I have already saved $30, nurturing hopes that it will significantly impact and enhance the lives of my children. The remaining $12 was wisely allocated to purchasing food and soap, ensuring my family's well-being and maintaining a comfortable household.

Thanks to the financial support from my husband, we were able to purchase 12 pieces of iron sheets. My objective now is to acquire an additional six pieces, which will be sufficient to cover the extra room I intend to construct. Furthermore, I am working towards saving enough money to compensate the mason who will be responsible for building the house. The assistance I have received in terms of finances has brought me immense joy, as it is enabling me to accomplish goals that would have otherwise been unattainable. I am grateful for this valuable financial support that is propelling me towards achieving my aspirations.

I am a member of a savings group localy known as a "Chama" that consists of 10 members. Every month, we each contribute $16, which adds up to a total of $160. This amount is then given to one member of the group, who can use it for any project they desire. Currently, I have contributed $48, and when it is my turn to receive the money, I plan on using it to build an additional room in my house to create more space. In addition to saving, I also decided to invest some of the money. I used $24 to purchase eight hens, with the intention of raising them. Once they multiply, I can sell some of them and use the proceeds to buy a goat, which is more valuable than the hens. The remaining $30 was allocated to buying food for my family. As both my husband and I work as casual laborers, we often struggle to earn enough money to provide for our family's basic needs. Therefore, the money from the savings group transfers has been incredibly helpful in alleviating our situation, ensuring that we have something to eat. Overall, I am grateful for the financial support, as it has allowed me to work towards improving my living conditions and securing a better future for my family.

Given the financial challenges my family has been facing, my primary objective is to establish a new, reliable source of income that ensures our financial stability. To achieve this, I intend to make significant investments in acquiring livestock. Through diligent livestock rearing, I anticipate their numbers to multiply, enabling me to sell some at a profit. This profit will be instrumental in meeting my family's daily needs, which I currently struggle to provide for. I am optimistic that this venture will lift me out of poverty's grasp.

Thanks to the bumper maize harvest I am anticipating next month, I decided to build a granary to store the maize. Due to the limited space in my small house, I was concerned that storing the maize there might cause it to spoil, especially because of the leaking roof. Spending $16 on constructing the granary has brought me great satisfaction, knowing that my harvest will be preserved. Additionally, I managed to pay off the school fees owed by my four children who are in primary school, providing me with peace of mind knowing they can continue their education without any hindrances. With the remaining $8, I purchased food for my family, which consists of eight members. This is particularly helpful since my husband, the main breadwinner, faces challenges as a fisherman. The diminishing number of fish in the river has made it difficult for him to earn enough to put meals on the table. Thankfully, thanks to the transfer, we now have something to eat and can ensure that we never go to bed hungry.

I want to start a vegetable/sardine-selling business but my lack of the necessary resources is challenging me. My husband does not make much from charcoal burning, which means his hands are tied when it comes to supporting me in establishing the business. The motivation for owning this business is so that I can finance the treatment for my son, who has been physically impaired since he was born nine months ago. Apart from that, I want to be able to contribute to the household’s needs and support my spouse in providing for our seven children. 

The prolonged drought caused so many uncertainties including pausing my business of selling milk as my cattle lacked sufficient feeds and water to produce the milk. I could not actively contribute to the needs of my seven children until Give Directly started sending me monthly cash transfers. Ever since, I have been supporting my husband, to fulfill some of the household’s needs, which has brought him a huge relief. Recently, I used $12 to completely clear tuition fees for four of my children, who will gladly never have to miss a day of school till the term ends. Also, I spent $10 on food as the household was almost running out of the same. Am happy that this ensured we had regular meals until my husband was able to provide more through his charcoal-making practice. Lastly, since the remaining $12 was not enough to buy a mature goat, I used it to secure a kid instead. Am sure it will grow and reproduce in the future, which will give me an opportunity to sell it to cover my family’s needs. 

My objectives for the upcoming three months are to purchase livestock, cover my children's school expenses, and purchase food. My husband and I both hold casual, low-paying jobs that prevent us from fully supporting our families. Putting the money into livestock will benefit me later on when I sell it and use the proceeds to pay my kids' school expenses. Because of the meager amount of money I make, buying food for my family is also a top priority for me. The family won't go hungry thanks to the assistance of this money in purchasing food.

To date, am glad at how perfect the transfer timing was. I will not lie, my family had slept without eating the previous night and the only option was to look for any farm work to buy them food. So, I used $14 to buy maize flour and other foodstuffs. At least, my four school-going children would attend their classes more cheerful having eaten enough. Also, their school fees had been accumulating for the entire academic term due to a lack of funds, and I paid $16 to lower the balances. I secured a hen with the remaining cash to increase the stock I already own. Usually, I sell these chickens for money when there is any obligation weighing on my husband. Honestly, providing for our six babies and me burdens him so much given that his only income source is charcoal burning, which yields very little.

I had my daughter, Esther, at the beginning of this month. She was born with one of her legs curved, which needed to be straightened out before it caused her any further problems. That is why I made the procedure a priority and spent KES 1,700 from the transfer to have it completed. In addition, I spent KES 800 on food. My family had run out of maize flour the day before, and my charcoal business had yet to generate enough revenue to cover our daily expenses. At the very least, the food was sufficient to last us a week while I worked to raise funds. I paid school fees for my grade four daughter using the remaining amount because she had been constantly sent out of school due to unpaid balances. I am glad that she is continuing her studies without disruptions, courtesy of Give Directly.

With lots of challenges and a lack of jobs for both my husband and I, raising our 6 children has become very challenging. Thanks to GiveDirectly through their unconditional transfers, I could solve some of these challenges (buying food). Currently, I heavily depend on the transfers and a delay in disbursement means I suffer serious consequences e.g. sleeping hungry. I would like for the organization to stick to the timelines to ensure we do not suffer in the future.

I spent much of my transfer of KES 2000 on buying a goat. Buying the goat means an investment for the future. Once it multiplies over a period, I will have doubled the amount I invested. I will have the liberty in the future to sell some and use the money to attend to the most pressing needs. Besides buying the goat, I spent the remaining amount of KES 1000 on buying food. I am jobless and depend fully on my husband, who is the breadwinner of the entire family (husband and 6 children). He is a fisherman and was forced to forgo his job and seek greener pastures elsewhere. The river where he goes fishing dried up because of the hot and dry weather existing in our area. This made him jobless for over two weeks before he got another job raising livestock. The pay he gets from his new job is very little (2500 per month) which is not enough to satisfy all the family needs (paying school fees and buying food). We survived on debts from our friends and relatives during the period he was job-hunting. The transfer has helped my family avert a hunger crisis that we have been fighting for long (over two weeks).

I was sleeping in my house hoping a miracle would happen because, together with my children; we had slept hungry the previous night. In the morning, there was still no sign that we were going to have anything for breakfast, too. While still thinking of my next course of action, my phone vibrated, and I quickly checked it up. To my surprise, I noticed I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly. I quickly woke up all smiles and headed straight to the Mpesa shop to withdraw the money. I later bought food and cooked for the family.

The transfer has made a big difference in our family. With the struggles we have been facing as a family, I am grateful the funds played a big part in easing some challenges. I am happy that my children are back in school continuing with their education with no interruptions. They actually performed very well in their end of term papers and this would not have happened were it not for the transfer.

The KSH 3000 monthly earnings my husband earns is not enough to feed our family, buy clothes and pay school fees for my children. To add to the struggles, He is not paid fully at end of the month. To help my husband in taking care of the house expenses, I decide to cut down wood and make charcoal for sale. The charcoal business has proved challenging and tiresome and with very little earnings, too. When I received the money from the transfer, I spent much of transferring KSH 800 to pay off part of school debt for my children so that they would go back to school. The children had spent an entire week at home after being sent home to pick the school fee balances. Efforts from both my husband and me to get money to send them back had proved futile. Receiving the funds was an enormous relief for me. Besides paying the school fees, I bought 4 packets of maize flour worth KSH 370. I bought the flour because we had no food left in the house.