With nine children in school, I have had a difficult time raising enough school fees to keep them in school debt-free. Three of them took their final exams: two in secondary school and one in grade 8, where he was to begin secondary school. Their results were unsatisfactory, and they all had to retake their classes. In the coming year, I hope to work hard in my business while also helping my spouse raise school fees and feeding my family of 11.

There has been a significant transformation in our village as a result of GiveDirectly, demonstrating that they did an outstanding job throughout the village. According to what I've heard from the villagers, everyone appreciated the great support and the enrollment process, which was fair and open to everyone who lived in the village. We hope that such support will return, but we also hope that villages that have never been visited will receive the same support and experience.

My nine children are all in school, with the four older ones in high school. Paying their school fees is difficult, so I was relieved when I received funding from GiveDirectly to cover a portion of their tuition. When we received the second transfer, we agreed with my spouse to spend $200 on paying for the four students in secondary school and the remainder on expanding his livestock business. From the profits and proceeds he had been getting from the business, we had been paying the remaining amount in bits and also spending the rest of the money to settle other household bills. We had been reliant on my husband's business, which he has been doing for a longer time and has more experience with. On the other hand, I had been making and selling clay pots to earn money, which had always helped me buy food for my family.

It was around 5 pm while I headed home from a funeral ceremony. That's when I received a message alert on my phone. On checking, I confirmed to have received KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly. At the sight of the good news, I was very happy and grateful to GiveDirectly and God for the gift.

The biggest difference in my daily life is relief from stress because with the transfers I have cleared my kid's school fees. This was a real headache for me because my children were in and out of school and there was hunger in my house at the same time. But during this period, I hoped against hope and encouraged my kids not to lose heart until GiveDirectly came to our rescue.

I am a mother of 3 and a professional pot maker for the past 20 years. On open-air market days, I can get to KES 600 from the sale of 10 pots. This is I use part for food and household consumption and the rest I invest in village savings groups. I also do small-scale maize and beans farming partly for food and partly for school fees payment. My priority when I received the transfers was to buy a heifer. I, therefore, bought one at KES 30,000. This is because earlier on, I had many dairy cows but they died due to an outbreak of cattle disease. Since I have one dairy cow now, once the heifer reproduces, it will increase the amount of milk I supply to the nearby school as an alternative source of school fees for my kids. Secondly, KES 17,000 was used in the payment of fees for my daughter in college. I also spent KES 5,000 on the settlement of arrears for my daughter and sons in high school. This is because were in and out of school all the time and it was painful because at home again there was food scarcity. Last but not least, I bought a wheelbarrow and a spade at KES 4,500. This will help in extracting mud and dirt easily from the nearby river to get clean water both for household and livestock consumption. The remainder, KES 1500 I used on the purchase of clothing for my kids.