We had experience a long and harsh drought for so many years until the rain graced us last year in December. The rains were so heavy they caused flooding in some parts of our area. My house which I had not seen wear out due to the high temperatures we dealt with and the lack of rain fell apart during this period and I was forced to move in with my mother in-law. Now my goal is to get a new house. I am a member of a saving group which allows me to save about $5 from my monthly earnings from which I hope to buy poles for building and iron sheets and a time like next year, hopefully I will have moved into my new house.

Givedirectly transfers have made it possible for my home to have meals, more oftenly than before, and my children attend school without fail. I have 5 children in primary school and one in college and her father is responsible for her needs. My younger children live with me and are my responsibility. I was able to pay school fees amounting to $72 for all of them which has ensured they are not out of school. I have also been able to by food at $30 which ensures they can get a meal a day on most days.

Although my initial priority was managing school fees, my circumstances shifted dramatically after my house collapsed. This unfortunate event forced my children and me to move into my mother-in-law's house, which is not very spacious, but we are making do with what we have. Consequently, I have revised my plans and now intend to save a portion of my transfers for rebuilding our home. The amount I save each month will depend on various financial demands at that time, but I am committed to setting aside funds regularly. I am optimistic that, with the continued support from Give Directly and my husband's help, I will be able to construct a new house. I am deeply grateful for GiveDirectly's ongoing support, which inspires me to strive harder each day.

My spouse and I are casual laborers, which means we rely on unpredictable jobs to support our five children. Life has been challenging, as finding consistent work is difficult. Therefore, when I received my recent transfer, I allocated $64 to pay school fees to ensure that my children aren't sent home due to unpaid balances, allowing them to study without interruptions. Additionally, we were running low on flour, so I used $1400 to buy a bale of maize flour. Lastly, I spent the remaining $24 on fertilizer and seeds since it was the planting season. The soil's declining fertility necessitates the use of fertilizer for a successful harvest.

My oldest cleared primary school and would like to join secondary school. I have no job to earn an income I do casual jobs to make a living. My husband came back home in October and also has no work he is engaged in now. Secondary school is expensive and with no income we are not sure we can facilitate our child's schooling, Our goal is to have her join Secondary school if the money becomes available or wait and join a technical training when we get enough money to facilitate this.

We had harvested food from the farm but the food ran out. I was now forced to use my transfers to buy food to ensure my home had food. I spent $34 in September on food, $24 in October and $20 in November. I saved $10 to my village savings group in October. I spent $10 in November buying fabric for a clothe and $4 on sugar and body oil.

I'm planning to purchase a cow, with the expectation that it will eventually reproduce and contribute to my income generation. With the earnings, I intend to construct a new house. Part of our house fell during the rainy season, leading my children to sleep over at their grandmother's house My great desire is to support my children's education. I hope they excel in their education, and continue with their learning journey.

I share a home with my six children and my sisters-in-law, who is physically challenged. I mostly depend on the transfers for our household needs, as my husband lives and works away from the village. He engages in casual labor, and often experiences financial challenges. Immediately I received the transfers, I paid $20 to clear the school fees arrears my children had. I then took the remaining $14 and bought a bundle of Maize flour, which cost $24. Fortunately, due to the good relationship I've built with our local shopkeeper, he allowed me to pay the balance later. I grow vegetables and so the only thing that was lacking was the maize flour. I'm so grateful for transfer.

My future goal is to have a better house. The house that I am currently living in is a bit small considering that I have a bigger family of 8, I find it very difficult to have my children sleep comfortably because most times they are forced to share the small space since it is a one-roomed house. I would therefore want to build a bigger house with different rooms to allow them to have a good space, and to achieve this, I would be saving $10 every month from the transfers that I would be receiving to enable me to achieve my goal.

I received the transfers at a time when I was in dire need. Two of my children who are in pre-primary 1 and 2 were sent home for school fees, but I did not have the money to take them back to school. I had tried all other means but failed and I was therefore forced to stay with them at home till the time I would have gotten some finance. Food on the other hand was also another great challenge to get. But luckily, I received the transfers that was of great help, I managed to clear the pending balances of $15 at school and I was glad that my children got a chance to continue to learn with the rest, I also bought food worth $15 and spent the remaining amount of $4 on buying clothes for my children. I was much happy and grateful for the much support.

The huge hole on the side of my roof that was left when strong winds blew the iron sheets away really frustrates me. Not only does it let in too much light, but also allows a lot of water in when it rains, leaving the space too dump for shelter. Also, being a one room house, it is too small for my husband, our six children, and me. It’s more distressing when I get visitors, because I have to request my mother-in-law to accommodate them. That is why, my mind is at building a new two-room house, made of mud-walls and iron sheet roof. Though I can barely account for the budget as of now, I plan to start saving at least half of each upcoming transfer to complete the project.

Five of our six children are already enrolled in school, while the sixth is still a baby. My husband works as a casual laborer on building projects and resides in Mombasa. He typically keeps complaining that he does not have any money to send us for our support, leaving me to take care of the majority of our household needs. I spent $34 to pay for the school fees balance for our children with the transfers from the previous three months. I'm happy they were allowed in school and attended all of their classes. $5 went for my clothes, while I spent $54 on groceries for our family. I appreciate the organization's financial assistance.

I buy vegetables from the nearby markets and sell them in our village while my spouse relocated to town where he does construction work. The income we make from these sources can not sustain our family of eight and thus the challenge especially in raising our children’s school fees. With the recent transfer, I paid KES 1000 for our children’s school fees so that I could clear the arrears they owed the school and used KES 2000 to purchase foodstuffs to sustain us for some period. The money was of great help, and we still have some foodstuffs for our family.

GiveDirectly, as an NGO, thrives at providing financial support to its recipients. It effectively employs the model of monthly financial transfers, which many of my village members appreciate and cherish. Unlike other NGOs, GiveDirectly is the only one that provides this type of assistance, and it does not restrict its beneficiaries on how they use their funds. This is so one-of-a-kind, and it's supposed to make our lives so much better than we were before. We, as recipients, are incredibly grateful. In my opinion, there is nothing that GiveDirectly does not do well.

My spouse and I both work part-time but do not have a steady income. As a result, we frequently adopt the practice of rearing livestock to generate income by selling some of our flock. Unfortunately, we lost two goats we had by that time due to the extreme drought we had last year in October, as there was no greenery for them to eat. Because of the fluctuations in the weather this year, I decided to buy a goat for KES 2,900 shortly after receiving my transfer. I am hopeful that it will survive and have more offspring, which I will sell once they are old enough to buy a milk cow. Thanks to GiveDirectly for enrolling me in its program.

I was actually on way to fetch some money I had loaned a companion of mine after I sold them charcoal, so I received the message while I was on my way. I am not literate unfortunately so I waited until I was back home and then went ahead to ask for assistance from my son. He informed me that I had received the transfers as promised by GiveDirectly and I was happy, I even did a little dance from all the excitement I was feeling.

The funds have really assisted in matters concerning nutrition for my family and I. My job includes burning and selling charcoal for a living and at times I barely make enough or barely make any money at all since we have almost finished all the trees. This money could not have come at a better time if you ask me. Luckily I also managed to begin the initial steps of poultry farming which I ma really excited about.

Unfortunately drought this time round turned out to be the worst and the entire village including myself we were highly affected especially considering that most of us are farmers and relied on the harvest to feed our families. That is why after I received the money I instantly thought of matters close to nutrition. I bought a kilogram of beans for KES 110, tomatoes worth KES 40, sardines worth KES 50 and sugar worth KES 50. After that I went ahead and bought two chicks which cost me KES 300. The whole reason behind buying the hens was so that I could grow my farm and venture into poultry farming where I planned on benefitting mostly commercially after they produced. I still have about KES 630 in my possession which I plan on using on matters concerning nourishment cause putting food on the table is a hustle and yet I need to feed my kids.