I have a passion for turkey rearing, so when I started receiving transfers from GiveDirectly, I decided to invest in a few turkeys to begin with. Since they require proper care and regular vaccinations, I’ve been using part of my transfer to keep them healthy. When well taken care of, they lay eggs more frequently. With my most recent transfer, I spent $60 on turkey feed and medicine for vaccinations. The remaining $42 went towards buying food for my family. I’m incredibly fortunate because I received the transfer just as our food stock was running low, allowing me to restock. I’m deeply grateful for this financial support, as it has allowed me to pursue my dream of rearing turkeys.

Driven by my passion for turkey rearing, I invested my most recent transfer into this venture, knowing that turkeys are both marketable and profitable. Before GiveDirectly's support, I had the idea but lacked the capital to start. Thanks to their assistance, my dream has become a reality—I now have six adult turkeys and twenty chicks. I've already begun to see the benefits, as selling a few turkeys has provided enough money to support my family and pay school fees. Given the profitability and potential for growth, I am confident that turkey rearing will be a successful endeavor. With school-going children, I am committed to securing their future through this investment. Over the coming year, I plan to reinvest the profits from my turkey project to expand the business. This growth will enable me to earn more income, ensuring I can continue supporting my children's education.

I appreciate GiveDirectly's financial support. This assistance has helped build trust with the shopkeepers in our village, allowing us to buy food on credit and pay later. With my most recent transfer, I allocated $34 to stock up on food, ensuring my family did not go hungry. I used the remaining $68 to pay school fees for my children. This support has provided immediate relief and allowed us to invest in our future.

I have a growing interest in starting a turkey rearing project. In fact, I have already managed to purchase two turkeys to get started. Although turkeys are a bit more expensive compared to chickens, they yield a higher profit when sold. This makes them a valuable investment opportunity. Given the profitability and potential growth of this venture, I am confident that turkey rearing will be a successful endeavor for me. With school-going children, I am committed to securing their future through this investment. Over the coming year and beyond, I plan to use the profits from my turkey rearing project to cover their educational expenses. By reinvesting my monthly transfers into this project, I aim to ensure that my children have the financial support they need for their schooling. This approach not only supports their education but also helps me build a sustainable source of income for the future.

I had bought Turkeys in previous months using my cash transfers, I now have 3 female turkeys. This Turkeys usually require feeds to ensure they grow well and are within good health for breeding. I bought them feeds in November and December at $10. I also bough food for the festivities at $24 for both November and December each. In January I looked at the turkeys and felt that they were all grown. I felt it was the best time to breed them, I took $30 from my January transfers and got a male Turkey. I spent the remaining $4 on sugar for breakfast.

I have reared birds before, chicken, ducks and even Guinea fowls. All this birds are tiny birds and you cannot make much from their sale, for example a chick from chicken can be sold for as low as $1, this for me felt like a loss as they were also very prone to the new castle disease which keeps wiping out chicken flocks in our area. I looked at this and decided to rare turkeys which are big in size , bring in better income and are less prone to this commonly existing diseases. A Turkey chick can go for $5 and this is a very young chick. My goal is to breed my Turkeys and build a bigger house to hold them in large numbers and then sell them at a profit. This funds combined from savings from my teaching job I hope to put up a business.

The farming season that we just concluded was made successful by the transfers that helped me in hiring labour and purchasing quality seeds that led to a bumper harvest. Food security that has been a pain for us over the past few years is now a forgotten story as we were able to harvest enough to last us a while. This was made possible by the transfers that enabled me to hire a cow-driven plough to plough my farm on time as tractors are a bit more costly. I was also able to buy the best seeds with better yield and hire labourers to weed my farm in good time. Without the money, I would have managed to cultivate only a small portion of the field which would have resulted into less harvest. During the farming season, we were also experiencing famine as we had not had any substantial harvests over the past 3 years due to failed rains, so basic food items such maize had doubled in price and was also scarce. Part of the transfers helped with the purchase of foodstuff and other basic household requirements I used the most recent transfer to seek medical attention and to clear some debts I had accumulated months back when I had to take a loan to pay the labourers I had hired to work on my farm.

I recently ventured into turkey rearing as an extra source of income because they are less prone to diseases and sell at a better price compared to chickens despite the little difference in the time they take to mature. A 6-month old turkey can sell for approximately $30 while chicken of the same age would sell at $10. Chickens are also prone to diseases which quickly spreads whenever there is an outbreak in the village as many households rear chickens. After almost experiencing a loss from my chicken rearing business due to diseases, I decided to venture into turkey rearing which is less common within the village. I have only 4 turkeys at the moment but aims at increasing the number by using my transfers to purchase more of them at a young age then selling them when they mature. There is no ready market for turkeys within the village but I have identified a market where I will be selling them in town once they are ready. Once this turkey project is self sustainable, I will think of a new project that the transfers can help me to accomplish.

I was previously burdened with a debt that I felt compelled to pay.I had hired an individual to work on my farm, utilizing his ox to cultivate my land. This endeavor required approximately $34. Unfortunately, the drought persisted, leaving me with no alternative but to seek additional assistance. Thankfully, the current situation has improved as it is now raining and my crops can easily grow.

I fervently pray for the protection of my farm from pests, and if they do happen to appear, I hope their detrimental effects on my crops are minimal. At present, I am focused on cultivating maize and vegetables, with the primary goal of providing enough food for my family so that we won't starve. When things turn out well, I will plan on planting more maize so that I can sell them to get enough money. Thanks to GiveDirectly for it all.

I had a plan of rearing chicken, improved local chicken. I had been using portions of my first months transfer towards building a chicken coup in preparation to getting the chicken themselves. I knew it would be more expensive to buy day old chicks and so I bought eggs and took to a hatchery and used approximately $0.60 to get the chicken to hatching. After hatching I ended up with 60 chicks which I moved to my coup. I have been using $18 of my last three months transfer to get chicken feed which will usually last three weeks meaning I have to supplement the last week with small amounts from the local shops. I also used a portion of my November transfers, $3 on vitamins and $5 on antibiotics as I had lost chicks during the early days and decided to be safe on issues of disease. Now my chicks are four months old. I also used portions of my months transfers on food because food is the most vital thing here as a result of the drought we are experiencing.

I would like to continue with my chicken business. I want to grow my chicken rearing into a business as its a venture that does not require so much technical expertise. As my chicken grow I hope to get them to a point that they lay eggs that I can sell while hatch others to add to my current numbers. I also hope to use Givedirectly transfers to feed this chicken to allow them grow and also buy medicine whenever necessary or even vaccinate whenever necessary. My hope is that when my numbers grow to above 200 I can now venture into other businesses from the proceedings of this chicken rearing buisness.

My ambition is to advance my career. With this, I can easily get employment. I plan to expand my poultry project to arrive at this dream by saving up on the profits that I would be making.

We are grateful for the support that has boosted our living standards amazingly. They did not ask us for a bribe or any handout, which makes the program one of a kind. Though my humble request would be for us to be paid at least early every month other than in the middle of the month.

Before the day I received my transfer, I had been struggling financially. Although I work as a PTA teacher, my wages are too low to meet my family's needs. As a result, two months ago I took some foodstuff from the nearby shop on credit. Unfortunately, repayment was a big hurdle. It, therefore, took my peace and I was always feeling guilty. Fortunately, when I confirmed the receipt of my transfer, I opted to spend KES 1,000 on clearing that debt. In addition, I spent KES 1,000 on buying food to supplement the food my family had. The rest of the transfer helped me to initiate a saving program. I am so glad for the timely help from GiveDirectly.

I was in a serious financial state before receiving my transfer. I had been imagining ways to get out of that state, but I could not see any. However, receiving the transfer was a huge relief for me. I was able to prioritize paying off all of my debts, allowing me to be free. It has given me peace of mind, and I can now approach the shopkeeper without feeling guilty. I am relieved that I now get along well with the shopkeeper.

Unfortunately, I had doubts about the legitimacy of GiveDirectly's program at first. I always wondered how practical that assistance could serve all village members. My concerns abated when I received my transfer. It was late in the evening, and I was still at school where I work as a PTA teacher. I was so happy when I confirmed my transfer that I could not continue with what I was doing. I just packed my belongings and moved home, feeling happier and more relieved than before. That evening, I walked through to my house while singing a thanksgiving song to God.