In the upcoming year, my objective is to enhance the growth of my chicken business by expanding my flock. I view this as a worthwhile endeavor, as it not only contributes to the current success of my business but also serves as a stepping stone for acquiring goats and eventually cows in the future. I plan to allocate subsequent transfers towards realizing this goal. The progress I have achieved in this business this far brings me satisfaction, and I am eager to further stabilize and fortify it in the coming year.

I sustain myself through subsistence farming, relying on it as my primary source of income. Previously, life was a constant struggle, and I had to take on various odd jobs to ensure the survival of my family of six. I am grateful for the transformative impact of this project, which has significantly improved my life. Through the support of GiveDirectly, I managed to renovate my house, transitioning it from a mud-thatched structure to one with sturdy stone walls, a fresh coat of paint, and a cemented floor. Achieving this upgrade was financially unattainable for me, but thanks to GiveDirectly, it became a reality. Given my current lack of income, a substantial portion of the transfers is allocated to purchasing food. Specifically, I spent $90 on food for my family as the crops we had planted previously had not yet matured. The remaining funds were wisely invested in acquiring three chickens, increasing my total to twenty. This poultry business is one I intend to strengthen, viewing it as a stepping stone toward acquiring goats in the future. The positive outcomes of this project have truly provided me with a newfound lease on life, for which I am genuinely grateful.

Now that we have started harvesting our maize crop, I believe that the produce will be sufficient to provide food for my family until the end of the year. This opens up the opportunity for me to use the cash transfers for purposes other than food. I plan to invest the money in purchasing and raising livestock, particularly goats. I hope to accumulate enough wealth through these animals to generate funds in the future, which can be used to support my son in financing the education of his five children. This investment in livestock will contribute to our long-term financial security and help secure the future of our family.

After I received the funds, I used the entire amount to purchase food because our household had run out of supplies. Additionally, our maize crops were not yet ready for harvesting at that time, so I anticipated that the food would sustain my family until the harvest. Given the rising food prices, I was concerned that if I spent the money on anything else and we completely ran out of food, I would not have the means to purchase more. My son is the primary provider in our family, working casual jobs in Mombasa. Back home, he has four children, all of whom are in school, and he often struggles to cover their basic needs, particularly food and school fees. Contributing to such expenses using the cash transfers provides him with some relief. Additionally, he is currently under pressure to source funds for his eldest son, who recently completed high school and is preparing to join college.

Clearing my children's school fee balances is my top priority and I plan to use the majority of my transfers to achieve this. Their school fees have been outstanding for some time now and I have been unable to pay due to a lack of funds. Once their balances are settled, my children will have a conducive environment to focus on their studies without any distractions. In addition to this, I also plan on using part of the money to purchase healthy food for my family, ensuring they do not go hungry.

Farming is my primary source of income, but for the last three years, the lack of rainfall has made it difficult to earn money and provide food for my family. As a result, I have had to make adjustments to my lifestyle. We used to have three meals a day, but now we can only manage two, and sometimes we go to bed hungry. The transfers I received came as a huge relief. I spent a significant portion of the $24 on food, buying twelve packets of maize flour, half a kilogram of sugar, and a packet of washing detergent. This should provide enough food for my family of five for the next two weeks, and it gives me peace of mind. I also used some of the money to buy two hens for $10, which I see as an investment. Once they multiply, I can sell some and use the money to meet my daily needs. I would like to continue investing in hens and eventually make it my primary source of income. I want to thank the organization for helping vulnerable members of society, and I appreciate the monthly stipend, which has allowed me to plan my future better.

Since there is drought in our area, there is nothing I can do to improve my economic status apart from poultry farming. Using my monthly transfers, I usually buy two to three chickens per month for income generation and investment purposes. This year, I plan to continue boosting my poultry farming to make it a more extensive business venture; I currently have six chickens and will add three more at $3 each using part of my subsequent transfers. When the chickens mature, I will sell them to raise funds to buy goats which I will also sell in the future to raise money for school fees for my four school-going children.

I wonder if my family would have had as much enjoyment during Christmas if it was not for the recent transfer. My son, who largely supports the family through his job as a driver, was ecstatic about the cash as well.  By buying foodstuff worth $24 and two chickens worth $10, I relieved the burden of solely depending on him. This gave him a perfect opportunity to raise school fees for his two children in college and one in high school.

Nutrition has been one of our biggest and greatest challenges especially considering that we have been experiencing severe changing climate which has led to drought. Apart from that the high cost of living has made the situation even worse. Therefore I ended up using the transfers I had received and bought a sack of maize which cost me KES 2,500 and used KES 250 to buy sardines and groceries on a daily basis. I was left with about KES 250 which I decided to spend on buying a hen because I wanted to invest in poultry farming.

I am glad that GiveDirectly came to our rescue when we needed their financial support. I love the fact that we were enrolled into the program without bias. In addition, the transfers are unconditional which has given us freedom to spend the money according to our different household needs.

I stay with my four grandchildren whose parents have not been able to secure stable jobs to pay their fees . They had been sent home for failing to pay the fees on time. The help from their parents is very little since they survive on menial jobs. When I received my recent transfers, I took a portion and cleared the fee arrears. I am glad that they are happily going on with their studies. Apart from the fees, the remaining transfers helped me to buy daily food for my family. At my age, I cannot do any casual jobs which many are doing for livelihood. I used to engage in subsistence farming for food production when there was adequate rainfall. It's been a year now without rains which has made it impossible to do the farming. I have to buy food daily unlike before when I could harvest enough to feed my family. I am grateful to GiveDirectly because at least I can afford to take three meals a day after receiving the money.

On that fateful day, I work up very early in the morning to go out and try my luck at getting a job. On my way, I met a friend who told me he had received his transfer and was on his way to the shop to withdraw the transfer. I was immediately anxious and checked my phone too to confirm if I had received mine. To my surprise, I found out that I had received the transfer. I immediately changed my mind and withdrew the money.

I have faced serious challenges in providing for my family due to the lack of a decent job with good pay. This forced us to reduce the number of meals from three per day to survive one meal a day. Buying the food is the biggest difference that the funds have brought in my life because currently we have plenty to eat and I no longer sleep hungry.  

After the death of my wife, I was left with the sole responsibility of taking care of my 6 children. I have struggled to get a stable job with a good income and I am forced to rely on casual jobs such as house construction. The little I earn from the jobs is not enough to take care of the family needs such as buying food and paying school fees. In the past few weeks, I could not work, leaving me with no income at all. I asked for a loan from my friend to buy food which lasted a mere three days. When I finally received my first transfer, I was thrilled, and I spent KES 800 to buy 6 packets of maize flour after running out of food and spent the remaining amount on paying back the loan I borrowed from my friend.