I took a solar light on credit that cost me around $160. To continue enjoying its benefits, I need to make monthly payments, and my plan this year is to repay this debt using the transfers I receive from GiveDirectly. I’m pleased to say that my house is now well-lit, which is a significant improvement. In addition to repaying the debt, I want to save another portion of my transfers in our savings group. Once those savings mature, I plan to use the funds to buy more goats. My hope is that these goats will multiply, increasing in number and value. Eventually, I aim to trade them for female cows, which will also multiply and increase in number and value, hence providing a good source of income, especially once this project comes to an end. I am optimistic that, in the future, I will have something valuable to rely on to support my family.

I have two school-going children, and their education is incredibly important to me. I do everything within my power to ensure they receive a good education. Recently, I spent $30 to cover their school fees, making sure they are settled and not worried about being sent home for lack of payment. Additionally, I purchased a solar light on credit for $10 and started paying off the debt with another $10. I plan to continue making payments over the next few months, as the remaining balance is $140. This year, our farms didn’t perform well, so I spent another $33 to buy food for my family to ensure we wouldn’t go hungry. I’ve also been saving in our local savings group and recently saved $10 with the intention of buying goats. I hope that these goats will multiply, increasing in number and value, and serve as a resource for my family in the future. Furthermore, I spent $5 to buy a chicken, hoping it will also multiply. This way, if any urgent financial issues arise, I can sell them to support my family. Lastly, my son was unwell and needed medical attention, so I used the remaining $4 of my transfers to take him to the hospital for the necessary treatment. I’m relieved to say that he is now better and back in school.

I am a parent to two children who are currently in high school. My top priority is always to ensure that I pay their fees on time. I am currently struggling to make ends meet as I only work menial jobs that do not pay enough. Despite my efforts, I have not been able to raise the fees required using my own resources. Thanks to the monthly transfers, I am hopeful that my children's studies will not be interrupted like before when they would be sent home and stay for weeks. My ultimate goal is to allow my children to achieve their educational goals despite my financial struggles. I am also planning to save some money for a new bed to replace the old traditional one I have been using. It is no longer comfortable to sleep on.

I am grateful for the financial support which has been a lifeline for me and my household. I have previously struggled to make ends meet and provide for my children. I have faced financial hardships and had trouble meeting even the most important basic needs such as food and paying for my children's school fees. As a single parent with no stable source of income or support, I have had to take on various menial jobs just to survive. One of my main sources of income has been supplying local palm wine, which earns me just $5 per week. However, since being enrolled in the program, my life has taken a turn for the better. I have been able to pay for my children's school fees on time, which has helped to ensure that they are no longer sent home for lack of fees and this has been a significant relief for me. Over the past few months, I have been able to save $20 each month, which I used to partially pay off the outstanding fee arrears. This has been a huge weight off my shoulders and my children are now able to attend school comfortably. I am so grateful because without the transfers, my children would not have been able to continue their education. In addition to paying off the fee arrears, I spent the remaining amount on buying foodstuffs for my family and paying for medication when my son fell sick and had to be admitted. I am happy that he was able to receive the necessary treatment and has since returned to school.

As of now, my son and daughter are attending school and rely on me to fund their education. My daily income from selling palm wine amounts to $3, which is insufficient to meet all the family's requirements. My foremost objective for the upcoming year is to guarantee that both my daughter and son can pursue their education without the risk of being sent home for unpaid school fees. I am extremely content with the financial assistance I have obtained through the transfers.

Intentionally, I set aside a significant portion of my transfers, totaling $39, for savings within a chama established by close friends and relatives in our community. The primary purpose of this saving is to ensure that I have enough funds next year to enroll my daughter, who has completed her primary education, in secondary school. As a single parent, I am grateful that the transfers will enable me to support my daughter's education and see her through secondary school, thus enabling her to pursue her dreams. Subsequently, I made a purchase of a wooden bed for $16, which will provide greater comfort compared to the sisal twin bed. Additionally, I invested in hens worth $10, with the expectation of generating substantial profits in the future as they multiply and I am able to sell some. Furthermore, I allocated $8 to settle a hospital bill for my son, who was unwell, and $10 to purchase new clothes for him to wear during the Christmas festivities. I am pleased that the transfers have assisted me in meeting the essential needs of my family.

As a single parent, I face the constant challenge of not having a stable source of income to support my children's education. I mainly depend on menial jobs and at times working in other people's farms for a living. However, thanks to the transfers I receive, I am grateful that my children can now comfortably attend school. Ensuring their continuous education is my top priority in the coming year and beyond, and I am determined to see them through to the completion of their studies. I believe that by the time the program ends, they will have made significant progress toward achieving their educational goals. To supplement my income and secure my family's future, I am also planning to invest in buying goats. Presently, I own three goats, and with a successful harvest providing enough food, I can confidently allocate some funds to acquire additional goats. These goats not only serve as an additional income stream but also act as a form of security for my children's education. As the goats multiply, I can easily sell the offspring to generate the necessary funds for my children's educational needs.

I used my recent transfers to purchase a mattress for $34 in order to replace the old, worn-out mats and rags that I had been using on my traditional bed for years. The new mattress has made a difference, providing me with comfortable and restful sleep, which I am truly grateful for. Furthermore, I also used $25 to hire oxen to plow 2 acres of land. This allowed me to cultivate the land on time, and now I am eagerly anticipating a bountiful harvest. Had it not been for the financial support, I might have faced delays in land preparation due to relying on inferior farm tools. Hiring oxen has increased my chances of having a successful harvest, which, in turn, will help alleviate any potential food shortages in my household. I also purchased two chickens for $5. These additions to my poultry are not only a source of joy but also a means of generating some cash in case of financial challenges. Lastly, I also prioritized paying the school fees for my two children. This investment in their education has allowed them to stay in school without frequent interruptions, as they were previously sent home when I faced financial constraints. I am delighted to see them continuing their studies without worries, thanks to the timely payment of their fees.

I have a plan of increasing my number of animals. I do currently own one goat and 5 hens which is quite a start since I never had them before. However, I would like to increase this much more. I plan to get more female goats and I plan to breed them so that they reproduce and increase in number. For chicken what I want are more eggs to hatch in turn increasing my numbers. These are the easiest animals to sell around here and having them in large numbers is a big investment as I would be able to meet my family's emergencies as well as get goats and cows from selling the hens or their chicks.

I am a single mother of four with three school-going children. I am a palm wine seller and I buy it from the local tappers. I have my oldest in class 8, while the other two are in classes 3 and 6 respectively. My earnings from selling the palm wine are not much, which means that I am unable to meet most primary needs, more especially education for my children. I had accumulated a debt in their school, but receiving GD transfers helped me clear this debt. In February I paid $14 to the school for school fees, I also bought my two younger ones' uniform for school as there was worn out. In January I got a bed at $53 which I paid for partially and am yet to clear the debt on since the young ones had been complaining about sleeping on the ground. I have also been buying food for the family as in February and March where I spent $10 on it. My child fell ill in March and I spent the money I had thought to use for school on treatment at $14. I have also been able to buy 2 chickens in March at $5 each.

At the moment I am a single parent who looks after two of my children. Being a single parent can be quite exhausting and tedious especially considering that I cater for most of their basic needs without any help. Therefore, I plan to use the money that I receive to pay for their tuition fees and look into their nourishment as well. Apart from that, I also plan on saving a small amount of the transfer so that I can finally be able to buy a bed as well. Lastly I also hope that the funds will enable me to buy a couple of farm animals preferably a couple of goats and poultry as well.

My three elementary-aged children owed the school an arrear of $40 for their tuition. I paid $34 to the school to settle the arrears with a portion of the three-month transfer so that they could take the end-of-year exam. In addition, their school uniform needed to be replaced because they were worn out, so I spent $17 on the replacement and $47 on food for my family. I live with my elderly mother, who is unable to work due to her advanced age, thus I am the family's primary source of income. I provide paid assistance to individuals in both farms and businesses, but the positions are unpredictable because I occasionally lack the jobs. I cannot provide for all of our requirements with the $2 I earn each day. We are thankful for the help because it has enabled us to flourish.

I was in the middle of building a new house when I got my transfer. Because I was short of two iron sheets, the transfer was extremely useful. With the transfer, I was able to spend KES 2,000 on two iron sheets. It aided me in completing the first phase of the construction of my current home. Furthermore, because my three children had tuition fee arrears, I chose to spend KES 600 on their fees and the rest on maize flour. The transfer relieved me of the stressful situation I was in because I did not have any savings to help close the gaps I had.

Through the cash transfers, I will be able to build my children a house something that was on top of my priority. This shows that people understand what they need and GiveDirectly has been in the fore front in championing for that through supporting the most poor communities through cash transfer.

I'm a window and raising my four children alone after my husband passed many years ago through manial jobs has not been a walk in the park. I have been living in a single room which servers as both kitchen and main house with my children and I have never had a chance to have my privacy as a parent. Building a bigger house has been my long life dream but I couldn't manage to build it on my own. When I was enrolled in the program, my goal was to build my children a separate room. I spend my recent transfer to buy building poles worth KES 2000, chicken worth KES 500 and the balance to maize floor. I'm looking forward to spend my next two transfers to build the house.

For days my child had been ill and I never had the means to take him to the hospital. So, I would stay home to nurse him. This quite inconvenienced me as I was the breadwinner of the family. Therefore, when I got the message confirming the receipt of the transfer, I immediately rushed him to seek some medical attention. I felt blessed and all the worries about food provision and my son's illness faded away.

With a daily earning of KES 200, it was quite a challenge to cover the needs of my 5 dependents (my four children and mother). Often, we would run out of food and thereby end up going to bed on an empty stomach. I also still stay at my mother's house together with my children. Now that I have started receiving these funds, my financial status has improved. I am not only able to get some nourishment for my family, but I also started saving up for the construction of my own home.

The day the funds were sent, my child had been ill for a while. So, I decided to use 200 for his medical expenses. I then used KES 500 to restock the house with some nourishments. The amount that remained, I save it up. This is with the aim of putting up a decent structure for my 4 children and I. At present, we are staying at my mother's house. I wasn't able to construct one before because my wine selling business only earns me a daily profit of KES 200 which barely covers our needs. Other than that, I wanted to have some emergency funds so that when schools reopen, I may have somewhere to turn to for their fees in case I might not have.