I look forward to my son completing college next year, a development that will provide a welcome relief from his educational expenses. With an ample supply of food at present, my intention is to use my transfers exclusively for acquiring goats. Currently, I have two, and I aspire to expand this number with the proceeds from my ongoing chicken project. The establishment of a goat-rearing business holds the promise of significantly enhancing my income, thereby fostering greater financial stability. The anticipated outcome brings a sense of peace of mind and security, for which I am truly grateful.

For the past 25 years, I have worked as a mason to provide for my family of four, ensuring there's food on the table. The nature of my self-employed profession often brings instability to my business, making it challenging to secure consistent work. Educating my children used to be a hard task, but I'm pleased to say that things have improved. Currently, my son is attending college, anticipating graduation next year. From the funds received, I allocated $35 to support my son's college expenses, covering his needs such as food and books. Additionally, I set aside $30 in savings, intending to start a group project next year. A portion, amounting to $9, was used for emergency medical treatment when I suddenly fell ill. The remaining funds were invested in purchasing chickens to enhance my existing chicken project. The strides I have made this far inspire hope for the future, and I find great satisfaction in the progress achieved.

I own a parcel of land that I'm planning to develop by constructing commercial shops and rental properties. The completion of this project will provide me with a steady monthly income. I intend to initiate this endeavor after my son completes his college education, allowing me to dedicate my financial resources entirely to the project. The financial support I've received from transfers has led to a significant positive transformation in my life, enabling me to provide for my family and making me very content.

Currently, my youngest son is pursuing a community health course in college. To support his education, I allocated $20 from my July transfers towards his school fees. I hold a positive outlook that by August next year, upon completing his studies, he will secure a stable job that will enable him to provide for our family. I earn a living as a mason, primarily involved in house construction. The primary challenge in this line of work lies in its unpredictability. During lean periods, I may go without work for more than a week, posing difficulties in supporting my family. I allocated $10 to purchase four packets of maize flour and one packet of sugar, reserving the remaining $4 as an emergency fund. I am genuinely appreciative of the financial assistance I've received, as it has greatly aided me in meeting my family's necessities and has brought me contentment.

I am passionate about the idea of keeping livestock as a means of generating a sustainable income for myself. However, the drought conditions on my land pose a significant challange but I am not one to back down easily. I am taking a proactive approach to this situation and exploring all possible options. I am looking into investing in drought-resistant breeds of livestock and implementing water conservation practices that can help me overcome the drought conditions.

I have two children; one of them completed school and is married and the other one completed school in 2021 and joined college last year September. As a parent, it can be tough to manage the costs of your child's education, especially when it comes to the field he chose which happens to be medicine and is quite expensive. The moment I received my transfers the first thing that came to my mind was paying my child's school fees which did cost me $20. I was so happy and really thanked the Almighty God for that. The remaining amount I took was $14 and spent it on food so that for the month I will be sorted.Thanks to GiveDirectly, for helping my family and I when we needed help the most.

My new goal is to invest in livestock specifically goats. I chose goats over cows because goats can survive without water for a longer time compared to cows. Through this investment, I will be able to cater to my children's education as well as their basic needs.

After finishing his secondary education, my youngest child enrolled in Kenya' Integrated Medical College in Kwale County at the beginning of last year. He is undertaking a Diploma in community health course. He still owes the school $140 in outstanding school fees. As a mason, I rely heavily on contract work, which is extremely difficult to come by. This is what makes it so difficult for me to buy food or clothing for my family or pay my son's school fees on time. I spent $20 after getting my transfers for December to cover some of the school debt. He is currently at home and not in school while he waits for me to pay his tuition so that he can rejoin his classmates there. Finally, I used the $14 left over to purchase 3 kg of rice, 1 kg of salt, 1 liter of cooking oil, 3 packets of wheat flour, and 1 packet of maize flour. I'm thankful that my family had a lot of delicious food to eat over the holiday and that everyone was cheerful.

Working as a mason in my area is challenging because house construction projects rarely come by. In a month, I can work at most five days, making a collective income of at most KES 5,000. Budgeting this money to meet monthly household expenses is the greatest nightmare given the expensive living costs. As a countermeasure against completely running out of money, I usually save KES 1,000 per month through a Sacco to help obtain ready funds in times of emergencies. I upheld this norm by depositing the amount into my account from the cash transfer. Also, I used KES 1,000 to supplement some cash I had saved for my son's admission charges to an integrated medicine school in September. I am glad he peacefully started college this month courtesy of the cash transfer. Lastly, since my household had run out of food the previous day, I used the remaining amount on maize flour.

Give Directly does extremely well in reducing the suffering of village members. Famine is the main issue in my locality and it affects every living being including livestock. Give Directly is slowly transforming our lives through the acquisition of food and re-establishing businesses from the transfers. I cannot recommend any better way of service than what the organization exhibits.

Working as a mason scarcely fulfills the necessities of my family of five members. The success of the job depends on calls or connections from friends and neighbors, which rarely happen. Therefore, sustaining a stable earning flow is a great challenge. To top all the suffering off, I lost my poultry and a herd of goats last September due to a lack of feeds following the prolonged drought. I was deprived of a critical source of income, which hindered me from clearing my daughter’s school fees on time. Although she recently completed her national high school examinations, there are pending arrears of KES 3,700. So I saved KES 1,500 from the transfer to slice the balance off. Also, I saved the remaining KES 1,500 to buy two hens as a restoration starting point for the poultry farming endeavor.

It was in the morning around 9.30am and I was busy clearing bushes in hope to plant this season when I saw a message which showed money received from Segovia technology. I was confused and I approached some of my nearby neighbours that were planting next to my shamba .I was so happy to find out that the money was the same money I have been waiting from GiveDirectly.

The difference in my daily life since I started getting the transfers is my plan of keeping livestock will be escalated.Due to drought and farmine last season all my goats died and it was quite a devastating moment. When I got enrolled it was evident that my life had come to a standstill and my hope to keeping livestock died with the goats I had.Currently am saving up and even though the market is not favorable for beginners am certain of having back my livestock. I can only hope that God blesses our lands with rain to prevent another calamity from happening.

I am a construction worker and a small scale farmer. Lately it is difficult to find construction jobs and due to the prolonged drought farming is not reliable anymore.When I received my transfer I spent KES 1500 to buy food sent my son KES 500 as transport from school back home after his final exams and saved KES 1000.Due to the uncertainty of construction jobs and the unpredictable weather condition am planning to save up and start goat farming.