My new goal in the next four months is to help my husband raise money to buy cows for paying my dowry. I got married three years ago and since then, my husband has never paid my dowry. My parents have started asking for the same and I fear there will be soon disagreement between my parents and my husband. Before things get out of hand, I would want to ensure we solve the issue so that there may be peace between the families.

The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving these transfers is that I also have my own cow now. This is a dream come true in my life since I have always desired but was not able to. This is because I had a small income from casual work and farming which was not giving much for all our needs. I was not able to raise money to buy a cow on my own. Every month when I get my transfers, I have been saving part of it. When I had the required amount of buying a cow, I withdrew the savings and used it to buy a cow. I know with this one cow, it will reproduce and the number will increase. Cows are easy to maintain and keep hence I preferred it over any other investment. When it reproduces I will have milk for my family and even sell some to raise a small income. In case of any financial difficulty, I can sell some of the cows to raise money. I feel my life will be better.

In the next six months, I plan to plaster my house. My first priority was to put up a permanent house but since I did not have the money for it, I have decided to have a semi-permanent one. Now that I built a good iron-roofed, mud-walled house the one things I need are cement and sand for plastering the house. This is why I have plans of saving part of my monthly transfers so that I can buy such building materials for plastering the house. I know in the next six months, I will have saved the required amount for the materials and even to pay the mason who will do that job. I am glad GD will help me get where I could not get on my own.

With the help of the transfers that we have been receiving, we have managed to plaster the floor of our house which now looks very decent and has no dust. Months ago when the floor had not been plastered, we had to deal with excess dust around the house that needed constant cleaning to prevent respiratory diseases that may be caused by the dust.

My plan is to ensure that my entire house that is currently made of mud is all plastered as soon as possible. So far, I have only managed to plaster the floor and I wish to save the transfers and support my husband in buying the requirements to plaster the rest of the house.

Months ago, before the current harvesting season, there was a lot of famine in our area, but I did not experience much of it all thanks to the transfers I have been receiving from Give Directly. The transfers made it possible for my family to afford decent meals during that tough period when food items were very scarce and expensive. I am happy to say that there is not one day that my family went hungry because the transfers always ensured that could afford to buy food most times.

My husband and I have agreed to combine our transfers so that we can be able to buy the materials required for the plastering oui house so that we can complete the project sooner. I hope that in the next six months, the entire house will have been plastered so that we can set another target and work towards achieving within next year.

My family was previously living in a grass-thatched house that leaked because the roof was not well thatched due to the scarcity of grass within our village. When I began receiving these transfers, I immediately began saving with the aim of constructing a new Iron-roofed house. Early this year, through my savings and some from my husband, we were finally able to construct a new more spacious iron-roofed house where we now live without any stress of being rained on.

We recently constructed a much larger house compared to what we had before. The house is almost empty because the few chairs that filled the previous house can barely fit in half of our living room. I want to focus on furnishing the house by saving my transfers so that I can be able to buy more seats for the house.

I recently purchased I sack of maize for family consumption which has been a life saver to my family especially this famine season. Food has become very expensive, especially maize which has recently doubled in price. Having no stable source of income and depending on casual jobs would have made it quite hard for my family to afford our daily needs if I was also to spend on maize on a daily basis. Now that I have maize, I am happy because my family can never go hungry even on those bad days that I don't come across any jobs because they are very unreliable in this area.

At the moment, I am living in a much better house compared to where I was before but my hope is to complete furnishing the house as soon as possible so that I can focus on other things such as plastering the house.

My life is currently different from how it was before because I am now respected in the village. I am also considered as part of the community. At least, I have a voice now. Initially, my opinions were taken for granted. I stopped participating in community discussions because my points were not taken seriously. I was always looked down upon to an extent of not being given loans because they feared that I could not repay.

My new goal is to Plaster my house. It is usually easier to maintain a plastered house compared to a mud one because every time it rains one has to smear the mud that has been washed off by the rains. It is also easier to mop it. I will also stop being the odd one out in the village since most of my friends have plastered their houses. Apart from the easy work that comes along with having a cemented house, I will also avoid the risk of inhaling a lot of dust when I sweep.

The biggest difference in my daily life in the last four months is that I feel happy and proud of my self. I was able to buy iron sheets and nails that I will use in building a more spacious house. Hopefully, I will move into the new house next month. I will leave the leaking grass thatched one. At least I will be able to sleep peacefully throughout the night in rainy seasons without worrying of covering the leaking roof with polythene sheets

I expect my life to change in the next six months because I will have fenced my compound. I have planted vegetables in my kitchen garden which I do not want to be destroyed by the neighbour's animals that sometimes makes me quarrel because of this simple issue. I am glad that when this happens, I will live peacefuly with all of them.

We used to struggle to put food on the table but currently this no longer a problem.

My goals are to finish building and buy furniture for house.

Currently, there is peace in my household. We receive our transfers monthly and sit down together with my husband and plan how to improve our lives.

In the next six months, my home will be beautiful and well kept. I am looking forward to purchasing new furniture that is after completion of the building process.

My new goal is to enlarge my house because it is tiny and usually does not accommodate my visitors well forcing some of them to sit outside during church or group meetings. When I am done with this project,I will save so the I can start a business for self sustenance.

Had I never received the transfers,I would never even have thought of enlarging our house.I am glad that I can now be respected in my family for taking on some manly roles as tradition would put them.

In the next six months, I expect to have completed the enlargement of my house and began saving for the purpose of starting a business.

Since I started receiving the transfers,I have gained more confidence in myself because I can also take the role of providing for my family.I am even buying building materials with the transfers and planning to enlarge our house without the help of my husband who is not in the program.