In the coming year and beyond, my biggest goal is to renovate the roofing of my house. The current roof leaks badly, causing the mud walls to weaken and collapse over time. This situation not only affects our safety but also the comfort of my family, and I am determined to change it. To make this a reality, I have committed to saving $10 every month from my transfers. With consistent effort and planning, I know I will accomplish this goal, ensuring my family lives in a stronger, safer, and more secure home.

I am a father of five, and I depend fully on the transfers to support my family. With the last three transfers, I carefully planned how to use the money to meet our most pressing needs. First, I saved $44 at a local savings group. My goal is to renovate the roofing of my house, which leaks badly during the rainy seasons. This has been a long-standing issue, and saving for it gives me hope that soon my family will live in a comfortable and safe home, free from the worries of heavy rains. After that, I spent $29 on food for my family. Feeding my children is my top priority, and this ensures we have enough to eat and stay healthy. Unfortunately, during this time, we experienced a bereavement in the family. It was a difficult moment, but I used $30 from the transfers to contribute to the burial expenses. This support allowed me to fulfill my responsibilities and be there for my family during a time of loss. These transfers have been a lifeline for us, helping me take care of immediate needs while also planning for a better future.

The roof of my house is leaking, making it uncomfortable to sleep in the house, especially during the rainy season. My plan is therefore to use part of my transfers to gradually buy roofing materials and repair my house so that I may have a warm place free from leaks to sleep in. Additionally, I want to keep on buying goats, also using part of the transfers, so that they may increase in number and value in a way that once this project ends, I may have something to remember and rely on to generate some income when in need by selling them.

I have always wanted to have a good place to sleep, as my bed was in very poor condition. It was made of worn-out ropes and did not have a mattress, making sleeping very uncomfortable. This always made me sad, and I always wished for a good sleeping space so that I too might have peaceful, restful nights. To achieve this, I spent $34 of my recent transfers to buy a bed and mattress. I am now happy that I sleep in a comfortable place, allowing me to have very peaceful and restful nights, unlike before, when sleeping was not restful. Additionally, I spent another $30 to buy goats in hopes that they would multiply and increase in number and value, so that in the future I may be able to sell them and support my family. Finally, with the ongoing drought and our food storage depleted, I spent the remaining $38 to buy food so that my family would not go hungry.

My goal is to rear livestock, particularly goats. I have already purchased two goats with previous cash transfers, and I aim to secure at least four more. As they multiply and increase in number, I could sell them in the future to provide for the needs of my wife and myself such as food. This will also help alleviate the burden on my sons, as they also bear the significant responsibility of supporting their own families.

As I advance in age, it becomes increasingly difficult for me to actively engage in work to provide for myself and my wife. I am grateful because, at this stage, the transfers have played a crucial role in allowing me to establish a source of wealth that will not require much physical demand from me: livestock rearing. Recently, I lost my aunt here at home. As per tradition, when such events occur, we are required to contribute towards the burial arrangements. Therefore, I contributed $34 towards this cause. Additionally, I faced a challenge with my sleeping space. While I had a wooden bed, I had not yet obtained a mattress, and I used sacks as bedding. This was both tiresome and painful. So, I invested $65 to purchase a mattress, opting for a strong one that I am confident will last me for at least three years.

My aspiration for the upcoming year is to start a goat-rearing business. Challenges in life and the absence of a steady source of income had previously impeded my ability to embark on this venture. Nevertheless, I am delighted that, with the recent transfers I've received, I've managed to accumulate a total of fourteen goats—enough to successfully launch this project. The establishment of this business holds significant importance for me, providing a tangible set of assets even after the project concludes. I extend my gratitude to you for making this endeavor possible.

In the past, I engaged in the sale of charcoal, but the business proved challenging and insufficient to sustain my family. Due to the strenuous nature of charcoal selling and its impact on my health, especially considering my advanced age, I had to discontinue the endeavor. The timely assistance of these transfers has been a crucial lifeline for me, addressing my needs ever since. This program, spearheaded by GiveDirectly, played a pivotal role in enabling me to acquire goats, which I plan to rear even beyond the project's conclusion. Allocating $82 from the received transfers, I purchased essential food supplies for both myself and my wife. Faced with a previous season of no harvest, this financial support was instrumental. The remaining $20 was utilized to settle a lingering debt incurred from a previous goat purchase, a financial burden that has now been successfully cleared. GiveDirectly has emerged as a beacon of hope and support for my family, and I acknowledge that my current standing is indebted to their assistance.

By the end of this year, my primary goal is to acquire a minimum of three goats, which I consider a prudent investment for my future. These goats will eventually multiply, allowing me to sell some of them for profit. The proceeds from the sales will be utilized to construct a new house, as my current residence is in a deteriorating condition and might collapse at any moment. This approach serves a dual purpose: establishing a sustainable income stream through livestock sales and addressing my housing needs using the earnings generated from the goat sales.

My wife and I reside in the village, and due to our old age, we don't have any sources of income. Previously, our basic needs, such as food and medication, were provided for by our children, who worked in Mombasa town. However, things have changed since we enrolled in a program that provides us with a monthly stipend. Now, we rely on this stipend to take care of ourselves. For instance, with the funds I received in July, I purchased ten packets of 2 kg maize, spending $24. This quantity of food is sufficient to sustain both of us for over two weeks, allowing us to have three meals a day instead of just one as we used to in the past. Thanks to this program, we no longer go to bed hungry, which brings us great happiness. Moreover, I managed to save $10 from the stipend with the intention of using it to buy goats in the future. Owning livestock has been a long-standing dream of mine, but financial constraints prevented me from fulfilling it until now. I'm delighted that this opportunity has come my way, allowing me to work towards achieving my dream.

I would love to increase the herd of goats that I have. This will greatly help me conduct my livestock selling business with a lot of ease. A huge herd also means an increase in my wealth as the goats continue to multiply. Once I sell the goats, I will use the money to cater to my family's needs that I have struggled to provide. I am grateful for the financial support I am receiving from the organization which is helping me improve my life.

I am the sole breadwinner of my family earning a living through raising livestock. I earn $25 a month for raising other people's livestock. This amount is very little considering the high prices of food commodities and the numerous family's needs. I have a farm but I can no longer work on the farm because of the hot weather conditions. I mostly rely heavily on livestock buying and selling to earn a living. Currently livestock in the market fetch little prices and they are affected by the weather conditions. This has made me struggle in providing for my family. So upon receiving my match transfers, I spent $24 to purchase food for my family. Before receiving the transfers we survived mainly on one meal a day because I didn't have money to buy food enough to feed us three times a day. I'm grateful that I now have plenty of food for my family to feed on. Besides buying food I saved $10 which will go towards purchasing more livestock and expanding my livestock buying and selling business. That way I can make enough profit that I'll use to take care of my family.

I must thank GiveDircetly for including me in their list of beneficiaries. Prior to now, I no longer burn charcoal for sale. Thanks to the recurring payments, which serve as my main source of income at the moment. I want to invest in the future by buying five goats to raise in order to increase my household's income. I will set aside $15 per month in order to save the $35 per goat needed to buy them. I'm hoping to have acquired the desired amount of goats by the end of the year. They benefit us because they reproduce every year. I'll eventually sell them to make some cash for our home expenditures in the future.

Before GiveDirectly came to our village, providing daily food for my family was a challenge. I would stay for two days without food, and most times the little I got couldn't sustain us for long, thus I had to skip meals to save food. I do not have any source of income to sustain my day-to-day food requirements, hence I rely on my sons to help me out in case of food shortages. I used to do subsistence farming, which ensured food security, but it has not been doing well for almost five years now because of a prevailing drought. When I received the transfers, I decided with my wife that we will contribute Ksh. 2000 every month, to buy a sack of maize, that can serve us for a whole month. The transfers have ensured that food is adequately available in my household which was not the case before. The remaining portion of the transfer went to buying vegetables and water, which we buy daily as we are facing a serious shortage because of the drought.

I am grateful and happy that give directly is helping the needy by giving them unconditional transfers. Through the transfers, I have helped my family buy food during this tough time. However, I would urge the organization to enroll more people within the village so that those in need can get help.

I spent my entire transfer on buying a 90kg sack of maize. I do not have a job and depend fully on my wife, who is a casual laborer selling charcoal. Selling charcoal is difficult because of the many restrictions put in place to curb deforestation. For the last three weeks, my wife earned nothing from the sale of charcoal, forcing us to sleep on empty stomachs and surviving on a cup of tea and porridge. My elder sons who work as public service drivers often help me by sending me money to buy food. Lately their income dropped because of the notable increase in fuel prices, hence unable to send me money back at home.

On my way to the field to graze my livestock, I heard other passersby saying that they had received their transfer. I became very anxious because I had left my phone charging in the house. When I got home in the afternoon, it thrilled me when I read the text message confirming that I had received my transfer. I broke the good news to my family members, and we all rejoiced in happiness.

Spending the money on food for my family made a vast difference in my life. The demand for charcoal is down, making it hard to make any sales. The only option left was to borrow a loan from a friend and buy food. I am happy that my family has plenty of food to last for the next two weeks.

I spent KES 500 as a contribution towards my sister-in-law burial ceremony. She passed away after falling seriously ill. The money was essential in giving her a befitting burial under our cultural norms. Finally, I bought food with the remaining amount of KES 2500 to add more stock after depleting all that was in the house. I am a casual laborer earning a living through selling of charcoal. I am getting old and the tedious process of making the charcoal is a major challenge for me working daily. As a result, I earn very little from the job and sometimes when I cannot sell charcoal I sleep hungry together with my family. Buying food using the transfer was an enormous boost in ensuring that my family members (wife, grandson and me) do not starve.