In the coming year and beyond, my goal is to invest my financial support in purchasing livestock. This investment strategy promises to generate income in the future. As the herd grows, I will have the opportunity to sell livestock and access funds, even during emergencies. I am very happy and content with the financial support I have received so far. It has enabled me to become financially independent, reducing my reliance on my son.

Earlier this year, my eldest grandson enrolled in college after completing his secondary education. I contributed $20 towards his school fees before the short holidays began. I'm pleased that he was able to take his exams and currently has no outstanding fees. I also bought a sheep for $25, recognizing that my five years of financial support are ending. Investing in livestock will help me sustain myself in the future. Additionally, I spent $14 on new clothing to replace my worn-out pairs, which has made me feel smart and presentable. I purchased $43 worth of food to ensure my family had enough to eat, preventing us from going hungry. This financial support has allowed me to meet my needs without heavily relying on my son, who works as a casual laborer. It has alleviated the burden on him of solely providing for the family.

With my grandson completing his secondary education, I now have a unique opportunity to utilize my upcoming transfers to invest in purchasing livestock, freeing me from further contributions to his education. The loss of a significant number of livestock two years ago left me with no reliable means of support. However, with the financial assistance from Give Directly, I have the chance to rebuild my livestock holdings and establish a tangible source of income for the future. I am determined to invest in and raise livestock once more, providing myself with a valuable asset that can serve as a financial resource when needed.

Last year, the heavy rains we experienced brought both blessings and challenges. While the rains were a great blessing, they also led to some serious disasters. Some of my goats and those belonging to family members fell ill due to the impact of the heavy rains. In response, I used part of my income to contribute to the construction of a raised shelter to protect the goats from further harm. I am delighted to share that the shelter has been successfully completed, providing a safe space for the goats, free from the threat of future rain-related issues. Additionally, my grandson successfully completed his secondary education last year. To ensure that he had no outstanding school fees, I covered his remaining balance of $34. I am pleased that he was able to sit for his national examinations without any complications, and now we eagerly await his results and make plans for his further education. Furthermore, I purchased food for myself, spending $34, and I am grateful that I have never experienced hunger, thanks to the support from the income I received.

In the upcoming years, my goal is to expand my livestock herd by acquiring more goats. I am particularly interested in goat rearing because of their resilience in harsh weather conditions, such as drought, which makes them a suitable choice compared to other livestock. This has been a long-standing goal of mine, but financial constraints and hunger have hindered me from achieving it. Now that we have harvested and hunger will be less of a concern for my family in the next few months, I see this as an opportunity to use the cash transfers to purchase goats. Given my advanced age and inability to engage in work to support my family's needs, building wealth through livestock keeping is the most practical way for me to contribute to household expenses.

Before we recently harvested maize from our farm, our biggest challenge was hunger and the inability to cover my grandchildren's education expenses. One of my sons is the sole breadwinner and works in house construction, but his income is not always reliable, especially when it comes to meeting the educational needs of his children. Therefore, I always try to contribute to these needs to ensure that my two grandchildren can attend school without interruption. When I received the cash transfers this month, I contributed $10 toward my older grandson's secondary school tuition, as his fees are higher than those of his younger sibling in primary school. I'm pleased that this contribution allowed him to continue his education without any disruptions. I also used $7 to purchase a pair of bedsheets, as I was using a small khanga piece that didn't provide proper coverage. Since we had not yet harvested our crops at that time, I used the remaining $17 to buy food that would sustain us until our maize crops were ready for harvest.

In the upcoming years, my objective is to expand my livestock herd by acquiring more goats. I am particularly interested in goat rearing due to their resilience in harsh weather conditions, such as drought, which makes them a suitable choice compared to other livestock. Given my advanced age and inability to engage in work to support my family's needs, building wealth through livestock keeping is the most viable way for me to contribute to household expenses. I intend to allocate the cash transfers I receive toward achieving this goal.

Honestly, the biggest problem my family is facing right now is hunger and not having enough money for my grandchildren's education. It saddens me to see my grandkids cry because they're hungry and I can't give them anything to eat. Sometimes, one of my sons helps us out with food, but it doesn't last the whole week. Working as a casual laborer in construction does not provide him with sufficient income to support the family daily. Most of the time, I have to take on odd jobs like making charcoal to earn money for food. Also, because I'm old, I can't do much to provide meals every day. When I received the cash transfer, I spent $20 to pay rent for my grandson, who had unpaid arrears for the past two months. Also, the household had run out of food and I used the remaining $14 to replenish more. I'm thankful that my family hasn't gone hungry since we started receiving financial assistance, we can afford to eat at least two meals per day now. 

After I lost my only source of income from subsistence farming, I developed a dream of owning livestock . My ability to make money has been severely impacted by the effects of the drought. My son, a mason, is currently responsible for taking care of me. Due to the economic hardship in our village, it is very difficult for my son to find employment every day. Thus, a time comes when he loses his job and is unable to support his family. I chose to purchase a goat after receiving my December transfers. The goat is a wise investment for me now and in the future. The goat will give birth in a few months, increasing my initial investment. In an emergency, I might sell the goat and use the proceeds to take care of the calling. Along with purchasing the goat, I also purchased food for the holiday season with the $5 that was left over. I'm thankful for the money because it has made my family's faces light up by allowing us to eat delicious food such as "pilau" which is not a common meal for us.

I love the fact that Give Directly is giving us unconditional transfers and from the transfer; we decide on how to spend the money. The money is helpful in enriching our lives and living better lives. I would like to urge the organization to enroll more people so that the vulnerable and those languishing in poverty can get help.

Being elderly, I no longer work and fully depend on my son, who takes care of me. My son earns a living as Mason, building houses for other people. The harsh economic times we are facing have hugely reduced the number of jobs he is getting currently (1 job per week). Because of the scarcity of job opportunities, he cannot pay school fees for his 4 children who are in primary school. The children have often been sent home and missed important classes, which affects their performance. Therefore, when I received my transfer, I spent KES 1500 in helping and paying school fees for my grandchildren so that they would resume their studies just like other children in the village. Besides paying school fees for my grandchildren, I spent the other half in buying maize flour for food for the family. In the previous month, before receiving the transfer, we survived on one meal because of the high prices of food commodities and the inability to grow food crops on the farm due to the persistent drought.

It was around 11 pm when I had done taking dinner and was about to go to sleep. I heard my helper calling me, I was very curious to know what could be the matter since it was unusual to receive someone in my house at that time of the night. I was very happy when he informed me that the transfer from GiveDirectly had been received on our phones and I was among the people who had received it.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am currently living a better life able to meet my essential needs, especially food without much problem. I am no longer going to bed without food unlike before. In addition, it will be much better once I started the activity of livestock rearing with the next transfer.

I spent KES 1200 to purchase various foodstuffs for my family. I bought maize flour, beans, and sugar. It has been a long since we harvest enough food produce from our farms due to the persistent drought conditions in our area. This forced me to frequently go to bed without food since my job of charcoal vending does not earn me enough money to feed the family. I am planning to spend the next transfer to purchase one goat to start livestock keeping. This will be the future investment for our family, I will sell the offspring when it reproduces to cater to any financial emergency.