I am planning to purchase more livestock, particularly chickens, goats, and a dairy cow, in the upcoming year and beyond. As I don't have a stable source of income to provide for my family's needs, I view these livestock as valuable assets that can help me during financial difficulties. Currently, I own 24 chickens, a turkey, and two guinea fowl that I acquired through transfers. I believe that owning these animals is the best alternative source of income to supplement my earnings from selling snacks. My plan is to breed them and let them multiply so that I can eventually sell them at a profit and settle my financial needs.

As a beneficiary of the program, I feel like it is the best thing that ever happened in my life, for which I am forever grateful. Before receiving the transfer, I could not afford the very basic necessities of life, such as food. My husband, who has been the family's breadwinner, was struggling to make ends meet by doing menial jobs. It was challenging to provide for the family's needs while also paying for the education of my two children and a grandson. However, after receiving the transfer, my life has been transformed. I am now able to pay my children's school fees on time, ensuring that they are not at risk of having their studies discontinued. I spent $15 on their recent school fees, which has improved their academic journey. Additionally, the transfer has also helped me boost my business of selling snacks to students in nearby schools, which has been my primary market for my food items. I invested $30 in buying adequate stock that can last for a while, and I am happy to say that I have earned a good profit. In addition to this, I recently ventured into poultry farming as another source of income. I spent $30 on purchasing newly hatched chicks, and my goal is to breed them to maturity and sell them at a profit. I also bought a turkey and two guinea fowl for $32 to keep and multiply, which will also generate some cash. All these efforts are aimed at improving my financial situation and easing the burden of fending for the family.

As a housewife, my primary dependency is on my husband for family provision. While I engage in selling snacks at school sometimes, my income is limited in supporting our needs, particularly education for our two children. Therefore, my goal is to broaden my income sources through livestock rearing. Presently, I own poultry, including chickens and turkeys, acquired through the cash transfers. I aspire to sell some of these poultry to eventually purchase a dairy cow. The potential benefits of dairy cattle include covering school fees through the sale of offspring and generating income from milk sales.

In the aftermath of heavy rains, a wall of my house collapsed, leaving a significant hole in the structure. Given our prior concerns about the house's durability, my husband and I had planned to construct a new one using the cash transfers we received. His income as a school security guard primarily covers basic needs like food and nothing more. To progress with this plan, I invested $19 in purchasing two bags of cement to create more bricks for the construction. Opting for a brick-walled house aims to enhance durability and strength. In addition to this, I allocated $34 to purchase a turkey and $10 for two chickens, diversifying our poultry holdings for sustainable wealth creation. The intention is to sell these livestock to support our children's education in the future. Before the recent school closure, I utilized $20 to clear tuition balances for two children, preventing the accumulation of debts into the next academic year. I am quite relieved now. The remaining funds were allocated to cover various food expenses, including posho mill charges and additional food items.

My ultimate goal is to purchase a dairy cow. Although I have already embarked on livestock keeping by raising goats, I have always aspired to acquire a cow that can efficiently provide milk for my family without incurring the expense of purchasing it. To make this dream a reality, I have devised a plan to save at least $10 from my monthly transfers. By setting aside this amount, I aim to accumulate enough funds to buy a dairy cow by the beginning of next year, thereby fulfilling my objective of establishing a sustainable source of milk for my household.

I received the GiveDirectly transfers at the right time. As the rainy season arrived after a prolonged drought, I saw an opportunity to utilize my idle one-acre land. Determined to make the most of the situation, I invested the transfers into farming. I allocated $20 towards cultivation expenses and purchasing seeds, ensuring a promising start to my agricultural venture. Additionally, I used a portion of the remaining amount to pay $5 in school fees for one of my children, who had been sent home due to outstanding fees. The remaining $9 enabled me to purchase essential food supplies for my family. The impact of the transfers was profound, and I felt a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity it provided.

My primary source of income is a fishmonger business. Through this, I have been able to provide the necessary support to my family. This has been making my family experience a better life. As a result, my husband feels relieved because he no longer has to contribute to our family's needs. However, to diversify my income, I chose to invest the KES 3,000 that I received in starting a poultry farm. With the transfer, I purchased eight hens in the hopes that they will thrive and supplement my family's income.

I have a daughter who had completed her secondary education and had not yet joined college due to a lack of money to pay her school fees. This made her very frustrated and started doing manual jobs such as fetching water for other people and working on other people’s farms for pay. My husband was dismissed from his job working as a shopkeeper in Mombasa after the Corvid pandemic struck the country. He currently does not have a job and I am the sole breadwinner of the family. I am engaged in a small business selling samosa and fried potatoes in a nearby school. I earn very little from my business, which is enough to feed the family, and left with nothing to save or pay school fees for the children. Therefore, when I received my transfer, I spent KES 2000 paying school fees for my daughter to join college and study a tailoring course. This course will sharpen her skills and hopefully be self-reliant by starting a business. In addition, I spent KES 1000 on buying food for my family. It was becoming a challenge to cater to all the family's needs. Sometimes we slept hungry because I lacked the money to buy food.

As a Christmas tradition, I spent 2,500 KES and 1,000 KES from my recent transfers to purchase festive clothes and foodstuffs respectively, for my family. I rely on a small business of selling fried fish at the market center for a living. So I deducted 3,000 KES from the received cash to secure extra stock and warrant more profits. Also, I spent 2,100 KES to clear outstanding school fee balances for four children so that they could study without disruptions. Lastly, I purchased food worth 900 KES.

My first transfer was spent on food and school fees because I received 1200.The second transfer came and I contributed kes 1000 to pay part of my children school fees while invested the kes 2000 in my fish business.My recent transfer came during Christmas period and I used kes 2000 to buy new clothes for my children and invested kes 1000 in my fish business.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well in terms of having zero instances of biasness while enrolling residents and also during the disbursement of the transfer. This is something that I commend the organization for. It is very unique in how it conducts its business and as a result, many people can receive aid from it.

With the current drought situation in the country, one has to find alternative sources of income. I lost my job at the start of this year and had to go back home and start again from scratch. The only alternative I had at that time was working on the farm. With no rains at all that option was also out of the way. I then decide to start a small business but the challenge was funding. When I received the first transfer I indeed started a business of selling vegetables from the market. Upon receiving the second transfer I decide to add more stock to the business that was slowly growing and attracting more customers. I spent KSH 2000 in buying potatoes and Omena from the market to add on to the already existing vegetable stock. Since my food stock in the house was getting finished I used the remaining KSH 1000 to buy food for my family.

I was from fetching water to be used in cooking breakfast. My phone rang and upon looking through it I found the text message that confirmed that I had received cash from GiveDirectlly. I became very happy and I rejoiced and thanked God for that.

There is a big difference in my life in that the small business that I engage in is not enough to be able to satisfy the needs of my family. With the help of this money, I am now able to do a thing or two including buying food and also paying school fees for my kids. This even gives me peace of mind also motivates me to fight hard every day.

I am a woman who is the single provider for my family at the moment. My husband lost his job early this year and since then I have had to struggle all by myself to help in feeding and paying school fees for my family. When I received the money I spent KSH 500 on buying food for my family and also spent KSH 500 to pay school fees for my kids in school. My children were on the verge of being sent home due to fee s balances. Due to that, I decided to pay their school fees. I also spent KSH 200 buying household items such as soap and detergent for my use.