My goal is to invest my upcoming transfers in purchasing livestock. Although goats are currently expensive, I am determined to acquire some. Having plenty of livestock will provide me with a source of income even beyond the five years of promised funds from GiveDirectly. With my children still in school, they may come in handy in the future. I can sell the livestock to fund their education. I am incredibly grateful for the financial transfers, which are greatly assisting me in educating my children and providing food for my family.

I used $42 to purchase 12 packets of maize flour, sugar, tea leaves, and other food items. As a subsistence farmer, I suffered significant losses last year when heavy rains destroyed all the maize crops I had planted on my one-acre land. This unfortunate incident left my family without food coming into this year. My husband, who works as a casual laborer in masonry, is currently struggling to find jobs and earn income. The financial support from GiveDirectly has been a lifeline for our family of six. It has enabled us to buy food to sustain ourselves during this challenging time. Additionally, I used $60 to pay school fees for my four children who attend Ikanga Primary School. I am grateful that with the help of the money from the transfers, my children can continue their education, which is essential for securing a better future. I appreciate the support from GiveDirectly, which has helped me take care of my family's needs during these difficult times.

As I look ahead to the coming year and beyond, my primary goal is to venture into rearing livestock, especially goats. This decision stems from a deep-rooted desire to secure a stable fallback plan for my family, particularly for my kids' education. Over the years, I've struggled to ensure timely payments for their school fees, and it's been a constant worry. Rearing goats seems like a promising path, providing a safety net in case the current program I'm involved in comes to an end. By investing in livestock, I aim to create a sustainable source of income that can support my children's education, offering them a brighter and more secure future.

I recently used my unconditional cash transfer to settle a debt owed to a colleague who had repaired my house some time ago. The weight of that debt had been a constant source of stress for me, and finally being able to repay my friend the sum of $10 brought an immense sense of relief. Now, I can rest peacefully knowing that no one is owed money because I felt quite frustrated and anxious about it. With the remaining $24.7, I immediately purchased food supplies for my family of eight. Being a subsistence farmer and with my spouse earning an inconsistent $5 as a casual laborer, ensuring there was enough food on the table had always been a significant challenge for us. This cash transfer came as a blessing, significantly improving our health and well-being by providing us with the means to purchase essential food items. The relief of clearing the debt, combined with the ability to ensure our family's meals, was an enormous weight off my shoulders. It's incredible how such a seemingly small act of financial support can make such a substantial difference in our daily lives. Now that I see my family eating better and being free from the burden of debt, I can focus more on our future with a renewed sense of hope and security.

During periods when I have fewer financial responsibilities, I manage to save $5 per month through a self-help group. My primary objective is to use these savings to construct a better house for my family. The current structure we have can hardly be called a house, as it leaks rainwater and consists of just one room. This cramped space is insufficient for my husband, our four children, and myself. I dream of having a traditional mud-walled house with iron sheet roofs, featuring three rooms. This improved housing would provide us with more comfort, space, and privacy. Additionally, I aspire to replace our current sisal-twined beds with decent wooden ones and mattresses.

During the rainy season, I rely on subsistence farming to provide for my family's food needs. It is not easy, since until just recently, our region has been affected by drought season after season. My husband is the main provider for our family. He works as a casual laborer in house construction, but finding consistent jobs is a challenge that limits his earnings. The cash transfers have been a valuable support for the day-to-day needs of my family. Every time I receive the cash transfers, my priority is to use $20 to pay for the school fees of my four children. This ensures that they continue their education without any interruptions. The remaining amount is then used to buy food for the family or any other need that may arise at the time. Thanks to the transfers, my children have not missed school for a long time. Sometimes, they just get sent home just on the days when I receive the transfers, and I immediately pay their tuition.

My family of seven members includes four school-age children. Because I do not have a consistent source of income, they are occasionally sent home for school fees, even though they attend a public school where parents do not pay as much as in private schools. Most of the time, I sell some of my farm produce to help them pay their fees. However, this season has been difficult because there has been no harvest. Fortunately, the recent transfers arrived just in time for me to pay off KES 2,000 in fee arrears. I am overjoyed that we will be able to study with minimal disruption throughout the term.

During the rainy season, I worked on other people’s farms to pay. Since the drought began, I have struggled to provide for my three children because of a lack of jobs. I currently sell firewood and earn KES 200 per day, which is only enough to buy food, and I am left with nothing to save. They often sent my children home due to school fee arrears which I cannot pay. I sometimes resort to seeking leniency from the school administration to let them continue with their studies with a promise to clear the debt once I get the money. Because of my low and unstable source of income, I often cannot keep the promise, and they send my children back home and miss important lessons. Therefore, when I received my transfer, I spent KES 1500 on clearing school fee debt for them to be allowed back to school after staying home for slightly over one week. Besides clearing the school fee debt, I spent the other half on buying food (12 packets of 2kg maize flour) to add to the dwindling stock of food. With little money to buy food, we reduced the number of meals from3 to 1 per day.

The house I live in is quite small and yet I also live with my wife and seven children. I intend to build a better and bigger house so that my family and I would finally be comfortable unlike now where we are all cramped up in the house. When I received the money I went ahead and bought timber worth KES 2,000 which would be used in building the house. The remaining KES 1,000 I used it to cater for a meal where I bought six packets of maize flour for KES 690 and then used the balance which was KES 310 and bought laundry detergent and kerosene for the lamps,

I spent my third transfer to buy timber. This is because I had intentions of constructing a two-roomed house. The one I have is one room and apart from being small to accommodate us, it is on the verge of collapsing. The second transfer I spent on KES 2500 on paying school fees for my child who is in primary school. The child had been sent back home for a fee thrice in the last term and lost so much in the process of being sent back and forth. The remaining 1700 KES I spent on foodstuff for my family since we did not have enough at that time.

This program offered really great assistance especially because I managed t pay school fees for my children and they were actually sent home the same day I received the money coincidentally so I was able to settle a portion of the debt and they were allowed back in class.

I have wanted to build a better home for the longest and after I received the money I took it as an opportunity to begin the project so I bought fifty pieces of timber which cost me KES 2,000. I want to eventually manage to build the house because my house is quite small and old and it would give me so much peace to improve my living conditions. Mean while the rest of the money which was KES 1,000 and went ahead and paid for three of my children debts back at school so that they would not get sent home after me not settling the tuition fee.

I was cleaning the compound at around 8.am in the morning. I received a text message and upon confirming i found out i had received cash from give directly. Well i felt very happy since i was i need at that time and i thanked God for he had answered my prayers. I did not tell anyone about the good news and i opted to remain silent.

Well to be honest prior to receiving the money i was clueless on where i would get money to pay school fees for my children. Now that i received the money i am grateful that my kids will be able to go to school and at the same time eat well.

I used the money in paying school fees for my children and the rest i bought food for my family