In the upcoming year and beyond, my goals are centered around ensuring a secure future for my family by making prudent investments in goats. These animals serve as a safeguard against unpredictability and offer the potential for financial stability. Given their relatively low upkeep costs and the availability of a steady market, goats are a sustainable asset that will help protect our future. By increasing my goat herd through my monthly transfers, I strive to build a strong foundation of economic stability. Additionally, I have the responsibility of covering school fees for my children, as I want them to receive an education that will enable them to support +themselves in the future. To achieve this, I plan to allocate a portion of my transfers towards this goal, along with the limited income I earn from my casual jobs.

My spouse and I rely on casual jobs to provide for our six children. The support from GiveDirectly has been invaluable to our household, especially when it comes to covering the school fees for our children. With the latest transfer, my top priority was to pay their fees, so I allocated $30 specifically for this purpose. These transfers have truly made a difference; my children are no longer sent home for being behind on fees, as I have informed the teachers about my monthly income from GiveDirectly. They understand that I will pay regularly according to our agreement. Additionally, I purchased $42 worth of food for our family. Due to the ongoing drought, sourcing food and water has become quite challenging. Therefore, I wanted to have some provisions set aside while we continue to search for jobs to support the family. Lastly, I saved the remaining $30 in our merry-go-round group, as I plan to use this savings to invest in an income-generating activity that will support my family in the future.

In the coming year and beyond, my aspirations are rooted in securing a stable future for my family through the wise investment in goats. These livestock represent a shield against uncertainty and a promise of financial stability. With their relatively low maintenance costs and the assurance of a reliable market, goats are a sustainable resource that will safeguard our future. By expanding my goat herd, I aim to create a lasting foundation of economic resilience.

With the most three recent transfers I received, totaling $102, I had a clear plan on how to use the money wisely. First, I allocated $20 towards paying school fees for my five primary school children. Education is crucial for their future, and ensuring they attend school without interruption is a priority. Thereafter, recognizing the importance of livestock in our subsistence farming lifestyle, I saved $70 to invest in more goats. Currently, I have one goat, and expanding this livestock will provide additional income through offspring, securing our financial stability in the long term. Unfortunately, this year's harvest was poor, leaving us with scarce food supplies. To address immediate needs, I used the remaining $12 to purchase essential food items for my family. This expenditure was necessary to ensure everyone in the household had enough to eat until we could improve our agricultural yields. By balancing spending between education, livestock investment, and immediate food needs, I aimed to make the most of the transfers to sustain our family and improve our livelihood over time.

I have started savings since being enrolled in the Givedirectly program. I plan to save to a point that I can afford to buy goats. Goats are easy animals to rear, with the periodic droughts we face its easy to graze a goat than any other animals while poultry are cash intensive due to the Newcastle disease. I plan to buy goats and breed them, increase my herd so that I can sell and use in case of need.

Givedirectly has been a source of relief to my family. My five children are in school. My husband and I are responsible for them, however our meager earnings from my farming and his casual work cannot fully cater for this. Having being enrolled in the Givedirectly transfers the burden of finances for school greatly reduced. The four youngest require $14 each for their termly school fees. I have so far paid $40 for the four and I am pending $12 which I hope to cover using next months transfers. I also got uniform for three of them in December at $15. The transfers have also contributed to my group savings as I have so far saved $20. We also needed to take care of food in December which I did at $19.

Throughout the time I've been receiving the cash transfers, I've always desired to own livestock, specifically goats. However, household constraints like school fees for my three children and food expenses have always been obstacles. Moving forward, my goal is to start keeping livestock. With the children on holiday, funds won't be constrained by tuition for the next two months. I aim to buy at least two goats. Even after the children resume school, I hope to continue saving for this venture so that by the time the cash transfers end, I can have at least five of them. These goats could be exchanged for cattle in the future as they reproduce, assisting me in farming activities like plowing.

Over the last three months, I've primarily used cash transfers to settle school fees for my three children. As the schools were about to close, there was a significant tuition debt that both my husband and I struggled to cover. My husband, working in casual jobs in house construction, generates little that barely settles school fees. Besides, with the ongoing heavy rains finding work has even been more challenging for him. Gratefully, the cash transfers allowed me to use $60 to clear the debts. I'm pleased that no balances will be carried forward to the next academic year when they resume studies. With the school fees finally settled, I seized the opportunity to fulfill a long-standing dream by buying my first goat for $30. I am delighted that this dream has finally come true, and I hope to purchase more to rear and develop myself. Even after the cash transfers end, I can sell these goats to raise school fees for my children. The remaining $12 was used to buy food.

My primary objective is to establish a livestock rearing business. Over the past few months, I have developed a strong desire to engage in livestock rearing, with the aim of creating a reliable source of income for myself. Starting next month, I intend to begin this venture by investing approximately $20 to $25 in acquiring a single goat. Through careful management and dedication, I hope to expand my livestock operation and achieve long-term success.

Recently, I found myself grappling with financial difficulties due to the uncertainty of my income sources. The situation became even more challenging when my daughter, who was in her third year of high school, was sent home for non-payment of school fees. Desperate for a solution, I was fortunate enough to receive a much-needed transfer from GiveDirectly. The amount I received, $30, proved to be a lifeline as I used it to pay off part the outstanding fees, ensuring my daughter's uninterrupted education. The relief I felt was immense, knowing that she could continue her studies without any hindrance. With the remaining $4.70, I decided to invest in my family's well-being by purchasing food. The support from GiveDirectly has been invaluable in alleviating some of the burdens we face daily, and I am immensely grateful for their assistance.

In the coming year and beyond, I plan to buy livestock. My greatest plan is to buy livestock (chicken and goats), rear them till they reach a certain stage and look for a market, I would be doing this on a continuous basis; I will be buying as I also sell and I believe that this type of project would generate a good income to help cater for my family. To achieve this, I plan to start saving a portion of my transfers on a monthly basis so that at the end of a certain period, I would have enough money to start the project.

The transfers that I received was of great help to my family, I received it at a time when I was financially down and my children were in dire need of school fees and books. I had school fees balance that I was required to settle so that my children would be allowed back to class, and upon receiving this money, I felt a sigh of relief. I managed to divide $25 to the three of them to settle the required amount and also bought books worth $5. Owing to the fact that I also have a large family of 10, I decide to buy food with the remaining amount of $4 as it had been so strenuous for me meeting their needs with no proper source of income. I feel so happy happy and less stressed.

I spent part of my recent transfer on paying fees of $20 for my five children who are in primary school. I received the cash in good time because they were about to sit for the exams and they were expected to clear the arrears before the exams kicks off. I am happy and grateful to GiveDirectly for coming along at the right time. Additionally, I bought a duck which will serve as an asset that I can rely on at any time. With the remaining amount of money, I opted to buy foodstuffs for my seven family members which took us almost two weeks.

A week before the organisation sent out the funds, four of my children had actually been kicked out of school since I had no funds to settle the debt on school fees that was pending. They had home for quite sometime and luckily GiveDirectly sent out the funds because they would have probably missed school longer than that were it for me receiving the funds when I did. So I took KES 2,000 from the money and settled some part of the debt. Then I went ahead and used the balance of KES 1,000 and bought five packets of maize flour since there was barely any food in the house.

Give directly has done very well. The funds I received from them have really helped me in providing food for my family and paying for my children's school fees. I am certain it will do much more and there's no area that I've seen that they have not done well.

I have four children in school. Since I am unemployed, I depend on my husband who works as a handyman at a construction site, for financial support. Meeting our daily expense has been really hard, so when I got the first transfer, I had a school fee arrears of KES3000. I therefore used KES900 to reduce the bill, the KES300 that remained, I used to buy food. Even so, school fee payment has been a challenge for us. by the time I was getting the second transfer, the fees accrued to KES5000. I thereby used KES2000 to reduce the bill and KES1000 to purchase food.

I heard the message on my phone and gave my eldest daughter Maureen to check for me. Upon checking, she saw the Mpesa message and I was so happy. Then I went to withdraw it from a nearby Mpesa shop. At least I can pay for my daughter's school fees.

It would have been difficult. I would have lacked the money to pay for my daughter's school fees. Thank you so much for the help.

The money came when I least expected. It helped me a lot and I thank God for that. I spent it to pay Kes. 900 for my three children school fees. Bought food with Kes. 300, and baking flour at Kes. 300. I am a mother of five. Four boys and two girls. I am a farmer and so is my husband, but currently, we are experiencing drought and only farm when it rains. So, casual work helps us when we are experiencing drought. Thank you so much for the help.