We live in a two roomed house and it is my wish to expand it by building an extra room that will serve as my bedroom. This will enable me to enjoy privacy all the time unlike now where I have to share a room with my three daughters. This has been my wish for a very long time but I have not been able to achieve it due to lack of finances. Currently, I am planning to start buying the building materials in bits every month using my monthly transfers.

Using my most recent transfers, I bought school uniforms for my two children at $ 12.50 and saved the remaining $21.50 so that I can use them in paying school fees for them once the school reopens. I settled on this since I knew that I would not have money to use once the schools resume from the holidays. In addition, I decided to buy them school uniforms since they're in pre-unit and they have been going to school while adorned in home clothes. For the previous months, I used $34 to pay school fees for my daughter in secondary school in order to avoid being sent back home which would disrupt her studies. Aside from this, I used $ 34 to repair one side of the wall in our house which had fallen due to heavy rainfall that we were experiencing. I am glad that I was able to attend to this section on time hence preventing any further damage on our house. Using the remaining $34, I bought a goat after topping up some amount as an investment that I can always rely on in case of an emergency. In addition, it will also come in handy when paying school fees for my children as I can easily find market for it.

My current goal is to construct a new and better house. Recently, my old house succumbed to heavy rains after nearly seven years. The collapse prompted the decision to embark on building a new, more spacious, and better house. This endeavor not only addresses the immediate need for shelter but also signifies a positive stride toward creating a more comfortable and resilient living environment. Though I have began the building of a new house, due to low earnings, I foresee completing next year with part of the GiveDirectly's transfers.

Over the past three months, the transfers I have received have played a crucial role in settling the school fees for my four school going children. Prioritizing their education, I always allocate $10 for school fees and save another $10 in a merry-go-round. I have a long plan goal of venturing into business with my savings. Additionally, I spend $14 on a monthly basis to ensuring ample food for my family. This strategic allocation of funds has resulted in a positive transformation for my household. I am glad that we no longer struggle and worry as much as we used to do before our enrollment in the GiveDirectly's cash transfer project.

I have a plan to construct an additional dwelling to accommodate my grown children, which will also serve the purpose of preserving my privacy. The current two-room house is insufficient and cannot adequately accommodate both my children and me. Furthermore, I am determined to save a sufficient amount of money to ensure that my daughter, who is currently in class eight, can smoothly transition to secondary school once she completes her national examination. It is difficult to express in words just how overjoyed I am with the support I have received through the transfers, as it has truly transformed my life for the better.

I allocated $20 to my twins who are currently studying at Ikanga Primary School. This payment ensured that they were not excluded from school as the new term began. Additionally, I managed to save $10 in a savings group commonly known as a "chama." This group consists of twenty-seven members, each contributing $10 monthly. The total pooled amount of $270 is then divided equally among three members of the group every month. This distribution of $90 proves to be a significant sum, allowing us to undertake projects that require substantial capital. With the $90 I received from the savings group, I decided to invest in six goats. Over time, their numbers have increased, and I now have a total of nine goats due to successful breeding. Furthermore, I used $4 to purchase food supplies to feed my family. Given that my husband earns a modest income as a security guard and I, as a casual laborer, also have limited earnings, the financial support I have received has played a crucial role in providing for my family. It has also enabled me to initiate substantial projects that were previously unattainable due to financial constraints. I am truly grateful for the positive impact it has had on our lives.

My goal is to extend my house so that my children would have enough space for sleep. The house that I currently live in is a two-roomed house which is not enough to accommodate us considering the large family that I have. I would therefore like to extend it with one room and to achieve this, I would continue saving $20 of my monthly transfers so that at the end of this year, I would have enough money to help with the construction. I would also want to join a chama (informal cooperative society that is normally used to pool and invest savings) and later buy a dairy cow that would be of help in terms of selling milk and I believe that the returns that I would be getting would help in terms of educating my children.

I have been currently faced with financial difficulties to the extent of not being able to provide some of the necessities to my children. I have two of my children who were yet to join nursery school and they were required to pay some money for them to get admitted in school, but due to financial challenges, I was unable to. On the other hand, the two-roomed house that I currently live in is not enough to fully accommodate my family and my wish had always been to extend another room on the side so that my children would have enough space for sleep. The transfers that I received had been of great help because I managed to admit my two children in school and paid $10. I also bought food worth $4 and saved the remaining amount of $20 which would help me with the room extension. I was so grateful to GiveDirectly for the support.

The fact that I have been receiving have offered quite a huge help especially when it comes down to paying bills. The money has also enabled me to help my husband financially so that he is not always overwhelmed. For the future. I intend on using quite a substantial amount of the transfers to cater for tuition fees for my four children who are still in primary school while my husband looks after the other two in college. Givedirectly has also enabled mean to purchase two goats so far but I would also really love to own a cow, but since they're quite costly I will save up a portion of the money I get with every transfer and eventually when I have enough money I make the purchase.

We had not yet planted when I recently received my transfer, even though it is currently farming season. We have already planted four packets of maize seeds worth $20 on our land as a result of my purchase of them. I'm happy I was able to pay off $40 debt owed to the school by our kid, who is currently enrolled in a mechanic training program. In addition, I paid the $10 in school fees for our other primary-aged children. The remaining $24 I used to buy some food for my family. Since I can not meet all of our needs with the $5 per week I make from selling charcoal, the money has been really helpful. In one of the businesses in Mombasa town, my husband also works as a gourd, but he makes very little money from it. Thanks to the organization for their support.

Our investment options in our area are limited to rain-fed agriculture and livestock keeping. Subsistence farming has not generated much for the local community, prompting a shift to livestock rearing. Similarly, when I received my most recent transfer, I chose to buy a goat to add to my flock. As my goat herd grows, I gain confidence that I will be able to raise school fees for my children. Given how difficult it is to save money, I am hopeful that this venture will assist me in raising school fees and meeting some pressing family needs.

In my opinion, it was a good thought of GiveDirectly to select our village to benefit from the project. We are usually struck by a prolonged drought that limits most of the economic activities leaving people to languish in poverty. So far there are some transformations since people spent their transfers on their most pressing needs ranging from paying school fees for their children, some improving their houses, and a majority can afford at least two meals per day. I have not heard of anyone who is not contented with the support but everyone is appreciative.

I burn charcoal for sale and the whole process takes a week with an outcome of not more than KES 1000. With a family of 10, the income can barely afford a whole day's meal. I am, therefore, planning to invest in goat rearing. I already bought one at KES 2500 with the second transfer. My target is 10 and once they will have given birth then I can sell some to raise money for both my children's school fees and for purchasing a cow. Cows are more beneficial since after giving birth then I will not only have additional cows, but they provide milk to both for sale and family consumption. At the moment we rarely use milk in our household since we can not afford and this will be a plus for my family's nutrition. KES 500 I spent on a pair of school attire for my child who had a torn one.

It was in the morning and my husband had just communicated to me that he was unable to send any money to me at that particular time. I was deep in thoughts because I was left with only 1/2kg of maize flour which was not enough to make a meal for my family of eight members.My day was better and happiness filled the air when I received the mpesa message. It was a relief from the food problem I had.

The biggest difference in my daily life ever since I started receiving the transfers from GiveDirectly is with the financial loopholes that my husband had been facing and my inconsistent flow of income from charcoal burning business,my family has not been having food challenges and with the chicken rearing business I have plans to start livestock farming which will help me manage all the basic needs including paying my children's school fees.

On the day that I received the cash transfers my children had longed for deep fried pouch like bread(mandazi).I used 660 to buy food and atleast to appease them I bought them the flour and cooking oil for their recipe. I had plans of starting chicken rearing business because I could use some extra cash now that my husband is working as a security guard in a different town and most of the time he only manages to send me KES 500 which is not enough to cover my needs for two weeks.I started off with an investment of three chicken which am hoping to increase as time goes by.