The first thing on my agenda is to save up and purchase the necessary equipment to start my own salon business. I've always had a passion for making people feel confident, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to turn that passion into a reality. It's just not going to be about me. My parents have been living in a house that's seen better days, tilting slightly to one side. With the earnings from my business, I'm determined to build them a more comfortable home, providing them the stability they deserve. .

Before I started receiving the monthly cash transfer from Givedirectly, getting my hands on the required school fees for my hair and beauty college studies was a struggle. My parents, unfortunately, are unemployed, and couldn't afford to support my training. Staying home due to lack of school fees was the norm. so recently with the Giivedirectly transfers I received amounting to $102, I was able to pay my college fees. Givedirectly's support has transformed my educational journey from a constant struggle to a smooth journey. I'm glad a heavy burden has been lifted from my shoulders.

At the moment, my major goal is to ensure I pay the required fees for the course I am currently undertaking on hairdressing and beauty therapy. I therefore have no choice but to ensure that I channel most, if not all of my transfers towards fee payment. I will be graduating towards the end of next year so as I edge towards graduation, I will start building up on savings that can later on enable me to open my own beauty parlour. This however will only be possible once I manage to clear next year's school fees. Should I fail to raise enough money to start the business soon enough after graduation, I will seek employment in any beauty parlor that may be open to hiring me so that I can gain more experience as I continue saving. For now however, I have to focus on completing the course.

I am currently in college undertaking a hair dressing and beauty therapy course, but due to my parent's inability to fully raise the required school fee owing to their low income, I support them by using my transfers to pay part of the fee. While in highschool, the transfers helped pay part of my fees which is the reason I was able to complete without any arrears. It would also be great to complete the two years of my training and not have my certificate withheld due to failure to complete my fees hence the reason I am disciplined and focused on having zero balances. Thanks to these transfers I believe I will achieve this.

My goal is to ensure I clear school. My parents are farmers and do not make much I depend on my siblings for financial support, they too have their families that depend on them. I want to be able to achieve independence. With this skills as a hair stylist and a beauty professional I can open my own place where I will provide this services and get paid for them. This will allow me to become self sufficient and even help my parents with their needs.

I am currently a student studying cosmetics and beauty. My journey with Givedirectly has been an interesting one. I have had a chance to go through school using Givedirectly funds. Last year I used my transfers to go through high school and was able to go through school to the end. I decided to join This college in March and since then I use $30 of my transfers monthly to pay my school fees. I use the rest of the $4 on buying shopping ranging from food or toiletries depending on my need at the time of receiving the transfers.

As I continue to receive these transfers, I hope to keep paying my college school fees till I finish my studies. Afterward, I would like to start my own salon and also buy some livestock to rear at home.

I am the lastborn in a family of nine siblings and I just cleared my secondary education last year December. My school was far away from home and thus together with my three classmates, we had to rent a house to live in. The rent was $20 thus we each contributed $5 to settle the bill. With the transfers that I have been receiving, I have been using $25 to pay for my school fees so that I remain in school uninterrupted and continue with my studies. With the most recent transfer that I received in January, I paid a registration fee of $20 to enroll in a hairdressing college that I intend to begin in the second week of February. I also bought some uniforms at a cost of $14 to wear to school. I am grateful that this organization has helped me clear my school bills.

In my own opinion, what GiveDirectly is doing well is giving out cash transfers to the less privileged in society. This has brought change into the whole community as many are using these funds to buy food, pay school fees, and start businesses while others have used their money to start house construction which in turn improved family health greatly hence reducing the level of conflicts in the society. In addition, I also loved the fact that the transfers are unconditional, meaning everyone is given a chance to buy whatever they wish unlike other projects from organizations that only give food for support.

I am the third born in a family of 4 children and am currently in form 4 studying at Mnazimwenga secondary school. I stay with my mother who relies only on casual jobs with very low pay while my father raises livestock to feed the family. I was so elated to be enrolled in GiveDirectly program as it marked a new dawn in brightening my future. Paying my fees remained the greatest challenge to my parents due to too many family demands. I owe the school $ 117 as fees arrears, therefore,  reducing my fees arrears was my number one first priority item. I paid $ 20 as my fee, and paying the fees helped reduced the amount from $ 117 to $ 87. This has made me stressed-free from being sent back home for fees hence increased in my concentration while in class.  The remaining $10 I paid my rent in school. I am to sit my final exams this December, hence renting a house next to school will facilitate easy movement which helps save on time that I would be using to move from home to the school. I am so grateful for the GiveDirectly support. 

I was instantly overwhelmed with so much excitement the minute I realized the arrival of the money, and this is because it finally meant that I could chip in with the needs at home because my parents was struggling financially to even put a meal on the table.

In this particular situation nutrition was definitely the most important thing that I'm grateful for because I was struggling to even have a meal and yet I couldn't ask my parents as well because they didn't have money on them either.

Hunger is one of our biggest challenges in the house so when I realized that the money had arrived I decided to use KES 400 and purchase two packets of maize flour. I also went ahead and paid KES 350 as part of my rent money. Apart from that I also saved KES 300 in case I needed the money later on, and lastly used KES 100 to buy a pair of shoes and KES 50 bought laundry detergent .