I am happy that I have managed to build our dream house. Therefore, in the coming years and beyond, I want to focus on purchasing livestock, specifically goats and cows. Additionally, I want to ensure that my children have access to education and that we have enough food for family consumption. Since we were promised support for five years, I have realized that time is limited. Investing in livestock will help secure my future because I will have goats, and in case of any financial crisis, I can sell them to address the issue. I have four school-going children, and three are still too young for school. As I do not have a reliable source of income, I want to make good use of my transfer to acquire a good number of goats, which I will later sell once they have multiplied to a good number and then obtain a cow. Once I have a cow, it will provide me with milk after giving birth, which will be used for both domestic and commercial purposes. I aspire to live a better life now that I have been receiving financial support from GiveDirectly. I am truly hopeful that my dreams will become a reality, as this would bring me great happiness.

I am delighted that I have successfully constructed my dream home using the funds I received from GiveDirectly. When I was close to completing the construction, I received my most recent payment, and since I hadn't purchased all the necessary materials, I decided to allocate $34 to buy iron sheets to complete the roofing. Additionally, I hadn't purchased a door, so I spent $34 to buy one, although I used some of my personal savings to meet the required amount. With the remaining funds, I purchased a goat for $34. I have begun investing in goat rearing as it will serve as my future financial security once these payments come to an end. I am extremely grateful for the financial support.

My plans have always included building a new house for my family, as our current home is aged and leaking, making it uncomfortable to live in. With the help of transfers from GiveDirectly and my savings from other hustles, I have been able to erect the structure, and the construction is in progress. I aim to complete the house within the next month, and I will be very happy once it is finished. After completing the house, I plan to venture into the livestock selling business, starting with goats so that I can support my family. My goal is to save the profits, along with additional transfers, to eventually advance to selling cows. To achieve this, I need a starting capital of $500, which I plan to gather by saving the transfers from GiveDirectly. I am truly hopeful that my dreams will become a reality as this will make me very happy.

My current house is old, with a worn-out roof that leaks during the rainy season. With a family of nine, it’s not a conducive living environment. Therefore, I have been gradually buying building materials to construct a new two-room house that will comfortably accommodate us. I therefore, spent $101, adding to what I had saved, to purchase more building materials and start the construction of our new home. I am very happy with this progress because I want my family to have a good, secure house, all thanks to GiveDirectly. Additionally, I spent the remaining $1 to buy pens for my children in school.

My residence, an aging structure, is no longer able accommodates my growing family of eight forcing some of my children to seek sleeping arrangements at their grandparents' house, as they have outgrown the capacity of our home. Addressing this pressing issue, my foremost priority is to construct of a new dwelling. This new construction will allow our current residence to serve as additional sleeping quarters for my children. To facilitate this endeavor, I have been saving a portion of my transfers through a local savings group which has enabled me to procure some of the requisite materials, including 18 out of the 25 iron sheets needed for the roofing. To complete this phase of the project, an additional 7 iron sheets are required, amounting to an approximate cost of $95. Fortunately, my employment in the construction sector equips me with the necessary skills to oversee the construction process once all materials are procured. In addition to this housing project, I remain steadfast in ensuring the consistent education of my children. To this end, I prioritize the timely payment of their school fees, ensuring they remain enrolled and engaged in their education. By pursuing these dual objectives, I aim to secure a brighter future for my family, characterized by improved living conditions and educational opportunities.

To be able to achieve more substantial plans that may require large financial resources, I opted to participate in a local savings group where I systematically set aside $10 of the monthly transfers towards accumulating capital. Presently, I am saving towards the construction of a new, more spacious dwelling to accommodate my expanding family comfortably. Besides this, I also allocate $10 from the monthly transfers to cover the educational expenses of my four children who are currently enrolled in school. Any remaining funds are typically used for the purchase of essential food items and other basic household necessities. This structured approach to financial management enables me to strategically allocate resources towards both immediate needs and long-term objectives, fostering stability and progress for my family's future.

My goals include continuing to support my children's education and expanding my livestock holdings, particularly focusing on goats and sheep. Owning these animals will not only contribute to my children's education but also serve as a lasting legacy of the positive impact of the cash transfers. I am truly grateful for the transformative effect the cash transfers have had on my family's life, helping to keep my children in school, secure livestock, and move closer to building a new house.

I primarily rely on subsistence farming and selling charcoal during droughts for income to support my family of six children, with four of them currently attending school. The cash transfers have been a blessing, enabling me to meet various needs such as acquiring livestock and materials for a new house. In the recent transfers, I invested $31 in a goat and a sheep, along with $9 for two hens, focusing on rearing them. I now have a total of 8 goats obtained through cash transfers, providing a valuable financial cushion for future expenses even beyond the transfer period. Also, I allocated $62 to purchase 6 iron sheets for a construction project, with the aspiration of building a new house once I gather sufficient building materials. My current dwelling is old and prone to leaking during rainy seasons which is why I need to build another one.

My current house is pretty old and run-down, especially the iron sheets I used to make the roof, which are so worn-out that we constantly get leaks whenever it rains, making our stay quite uncomfortable. My plan for the upcoming year is to construct a brand-new, larger three-room home that will give us the comfort we require. I've started the process of acquiring the required supplies, starting with the purchase of brand-new iron sheets, and I aim to have completed this process and built the house before the year's end.

As the monthly cash transfers arrived, I carefully allocated the funds, prioritizing the future of my children. With $7, I paid the school fees for one of my six children, ensuring their education remained uninterrupted. Determined to invest wisely, I also purchased a sheep for $25, adding it to my growing herd, which now amounted to seven. This would provide a sustainable income in the long run. Meanwhile, I continued to supplement our livelihood by selling traditional herbs, an alternative source of income. I also set aside a portion of the previous month's transfer for food, ensuring my family's well-being. With each decision, I held onto hope for a brighter future, driven by the belief that every small step forward would lead to greater possibilities.

I currently do not have a good job and life was really hard before GiveDirectly came into the bigger picture. I used to sell and burn charcoal and at times I would sell nothing and in the process we would go days without food. I am planning to save enough money and ensure I buy chicken and when they hatch, I sell them and buy goats that will make me profit. The moment I make enough profit, I will make sure I open a big shop for my beloved wife to keep my family moving. I will also buy more goats and cows for myself and sell them. When we both work, we will be able to give our family the kind of life they deserve.

I am a father of six lovely children and I move up and down making ends meet. The moment I qualified to receive transfers from GiveDirectly, my wife and I sat down and came up with an idea of saving most of my transfers so that I could buy more chicken and add it to my existing ones. The moment I received my transfers I saved $25 and the remaining amount of $9 I was able to buy five chickens each at $2 and I really thank God for the blessings and favour.

In my view, GiveDirectly does well in alleviating poverty in a poverty-stricken society. It does this through giving direct cash transfer that has an impact on our lives. As a result, I have been able to support my children. It also ensures that every individual enrolled in its program gets the transfer. In addition, it does not practice favoritism against any potential beneficiary of its program. In contrast, there is nothing that GiveDirectly does not do well. I am so grateful for its financial support.

In my family, we are eight in number, six children, my wife (Kabunda), and I. Since I do not have formal employment, I resolved to raise livestock. I am a farmer who raises livestock, both goats and domestic fowl. Immediately after I received my transfer, I spent the whole of my recent transfer on buying two goats. Both were young hence I spent less. At the moment, I have twenty-seven domestic fowls, fifteen goats, and two cows. The animals will help me to meet the emergency need of my four school-going children.

I was still working that evening at 9 p.m. when I received the Give Directly cash transfer message. The money arrived at a critical time, when my four children had been home for a full week due to outstanding school fee arrears. For a brief moment, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders, knowing that this sum would assist cover a portion of my children's tuition and keep them in school.

Seeing my four children miss out on their studies because I could not afford their outstanding school fees stressed me out. They are extremely brilliant and dedicated pupils that consistently generate some of the strongest grades in their respective classes (grade four, three, two and kindergarten). My happiest moment was getting them back to class by clearing the balances using cash transfer. Unlike in the past, they are continuing their studies without interruptions.

Being the middle of the month, I had spent all KES 9,000 monthly income I made from supplying herbal medicine to a local doctor in my village. Things were getting tough again, making it difficult to cover needs such as tuition fees for my children. So I spent KES 1,500 to pay school fees for my four children, who had missed a week of lessons due to unpaid balances. I saved the other half of the transfer. The plan is to supplement it with my monthly wage in order to purchase a goat for KES 3,000. This goat will not only be an evident investment from Give Directly remittances, but also a solid source of income in the future as it reproduces and grows the herd.