My goal the last time we spoke was for me to start school and I am now attending school. I have paid $190 so far of the required $480 to complete the carpentry course. I believe this is a very versatile course, that is once I am done with school I can immediately self employ and serve my community while making some money. I would like to complete school so my transfers can go into feeding my small family of my wife and child. I am able to dream and see a future because of the transfers being received from Givedirectly.

I am currently a student studying carpentry at a vocational institute. I had wanted to study electrical technology but the burden of paying for school was larger than I had anticipated. The cash I have been receiving from Givedirectly has facilitated my going to school and in the last two months of school I have paid $35 from my transfers. I also needed some new clothes when joining school where I spent $10 on clothes. I have also used the transfers to facilitate purchase for food when at school and for my wife and child back at home at $39. I am so thankful for what Givedirectly had done for me.

My primary goal for the upcoming year and beyond is to allocate part of my monthly transfers toward my college tuition. I plan to pursue a course in electrical wiring since I've completed my secondary education. The motivation for choosing this course stems from the practical needs of my village; we often have to rely on experts from distant places for even minor electrical repairs due to a scarcity of local skilled professionals. I am optimistic about starting college soon, thanks to the financial support from GiveDirectly. This assistance has shown me that there is a hopeful future ahead. Previously, without these transfers, I frequently faced interruptions in my education because my mother, the sole breadwinner, struggled to pay my school fees on time. I am deeply grateful for the financial support that has significantly improved our lives.

Over the past three months, we faced significant challenges due to drought, resulting in a severe shortage of food. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, I allocated a major portion of the transfer, $35, towards purchasing essential food supplies for my family. With planning for the future, I set aside $39 from the remaining amount, intending to use it for my college education. Additionally, I invested $20 in buying a goat, for future financial security. Given its rapid reproduction rate, I anticipate generating additional income by selling its offspring to support my education when I enroll in college

I finished form four in 2020, I am now married. I wanted to join college but I did not have the cash seeing that at the time I still had a deficit at school for unpaid school fees and hence could not even collect my certificate. I had wanted to become an electrician by profession since I noticed the town people usually hire electricians from far to do any electrical work. I wanted to help them reduce the cost used for this as well as establish a source of income. I am now saving to ensure I can start out at school buy March and hopefully achieve this dream.

I am personally very thankful for the transfers we receive from Giveidrectly as it has made going hungry a thing of the past for me and my family. My family would go hungry for days before the transfers but now with the transfers we are assured of buying food and being able to feed the family. I spent $14 in October for food, $19 in November and $19 in December. I also got some clothes at $10 in October and $10 on toiletries. In November I got two chicken at $5 each on chicken to be used during the festivities, I also paid people to help me weed the farm at $5. In December I saved $15 after buying food.

I was forced to stop school due to a lack in finances. I have wanted to purse a tertiary level education and work in the field of mechanical engineering which has been a dream for so long. I am working towards having enough to get into school with the minimum amount on a termly basis. I believe this transfers will play a big role towards building a fund for school

I have been able to change my life status due to Givedorectly transfers. I used $30 to buy a goat in June., I spent $400 in the same me month to buy food. In the month of July I saved $30 which I later used after combining with my August transfers to buy a new mattress at a total of $60. I was also able to get one chick in August and also bought shoes in this said month.

The following year or so, I intend to start college. My strategy is to purchase at least five goats to raise as a means of saving, and while I wait, they will procreate. When it's time to enroll in college, I'll sell them off, and the money I make from that sale will go toward my tuition. The little earnings from my small retail business will also aid me achieve this goal. I am optimistic of achieving this goal through the support from Givedirectly!

I finished my secondary schooling last year, but due to certain arrears, I am yet to pick up my completion certificate. I have already settled some arrears, and right now $40 is pending. Despite this, I am already planning for college by routinely saving money. One thing I considered doing was purchasing animals as a savings so I used my May transfer to purchase a goat for $30 to raise. I used the remainder of the transfer to purchase some personal necessities.

I was almost sitting for my national high-school examinations when the transfer came in. Considering that the school had permitted me to take the test in goodwill, regardless of the unpaid $20 tuition balance, it was appropriate that I prioritized clearing the debt. Settling this balance was a miracle and huge relief to my mother and me. She had endured many struggles to keep my brother and me in secondary school through charcoal burning. I remember there were times I could miss classes for two weeks due to a lack of fees. But now see! Ever since Give Directly brought the cash aid, neither my brother nor I missed out on learning. I also spent $10 to buy a new pair of school uniforms to replace the tattered and torn ones, which my school would not allow me to do the exams in. Besides, the attire was already inherited by my brother after I completed the exams since we attended the same institution. Finally, the remaining amount went towards the purchase of food to serve me for the days I would do my examinations. Thanks Give Directly for making my last days in high school stress-free.

I am a student and am currently in the fourth form. My educational journey has been marked by a struggle due to the continuous lack of school fees. Because my parents are peasant farmers, they always find it difficult to raise our school fees. They have been struggling to support our six-member family from the peasantry. I owed the school $80 in fees when I received my recent transfer. Therefore, I opted to use $20 fee to avoid being sent home while my classmates were studying. The remaining $10 enabled me to purchase food to supplement what we already had. I also bought some secondhand clothing since what I had were too small and worn out.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well in averting poverty. It plays a key role in supporting community members who are less privileged by offering them unconditional cash transfers. As a result, many from my village used the transfer to buy livestock, and food as well taking their children to school. People have also experienced positive change as a result of the transfer. In my community, everybody appreciates GiveDirectly thus there is nothing that we have noticed that it does not do well.

Despite having both parents, I have been struggling to pay my school fees. This is because they are extremely poor and have been relying on charcoal production to support us. Their earnings are always relatively low, and they may be unable to pay school fees. I spent KES 2,000 from my transfer to pay my school fees. I am glad I have been able to study well since I started getting my transfer. In addition, I spent KES 500 on a new school shirt because my old one had holes in it. Finally, I gave KES 500 to my parents so that they could top up and buy food for the family.

After a long day at school, I decided to take a nap. I then woke up to a message on my phone that confirmed I had received some money from give directly. This really made me very happy and excited. All I thought of was my education. To manage to support my studies and stop relying on my parents who were charcoal manufacturers, I started a poultry farming business using some of the cash.

Often, I would be sent home due to school fee arrears, and most times my parents would be without any funds to take me back. So, I would be forced to stay home for a couple of days. The longest being three weeks. My fellow classmates had gone ahead of me when I reported back which resulted in a drastic drop in my performance. However, ever since we started receiving funds from give directly, things have really changed for both my sibling (who is in form two) and I. This is because it has been a while since we were sent home. I believe I will be able to finish my studies without any worries as I will be in a better position to support myself through the poultry farming business that I have recently started. My brother, on the other hand, will have enough support from my parents for his studies.

I am a form four candidate. Before give directly, the only source of income my parents had was through charcoal manufacturing. From it, they would support my sibling and I by meeting our daily needs. Payment of school fees has always been a challenge. Often, I will be sent home due to the arrears, and the longest I have had to stay home is 3 weeks. This made me miss out on my studies and as a result, I dropped in my performance. Recently, when I got the funds, I had arrears of KES 10000. I substituted the amount my parents gave me with the KES 400 from the transfer I received to reduce the bill to KES 6,000. The KES 800 that remained I used to buy three chickens. This is so I could start a poultry farming business to earn a living and support my studies.