I was a tailor actively making an income until I gave birth to my fourth born who is now 1year four months. I now fully depend on my husband on income who works in a company selling electronics. I try to alleviate his financial burdens using the transfers hence my decision to use my transfers to buy a mattress for the children. As much as he may be able to buy the mattress we still have other pressing needs like building a new house as ours has become destroyed over the years by the rain. My goal for now is buying the mattress which I hope to achieve using December transfers and to use the cash to ensure our house needs are taken care of so my husband can save for a new house.

I have three school going children, my first is in grade five, my second is in grade 2 and my youngest is in PP2. I used my September transfers to sort out their school fee payments. I spent $20 to pay for school fees for the three of them. I set aside $10 to my village savings group and $4 went into buying sugar and soap. In October I got a goat at $30 and the $4 that was left was used to buy sugar. A bulk of November transfers will be going to a mattress purchase that I am saving towards for my children this is $30 while the $4 went into buying chicken and sugar. The mattress is to replace the old worn out mattress my children sleep on.

In the upcoming year and beyond, my foremost objective is to enhance and expand my tailoring business before the conclusion of the cash program. With a thriving business, I aim to assume a more significant role in managing our family's financial responsibilities, reducing my reliance on my husband for everything. Additionally, I aspire to utilize these funds to support my children's education by covering their school fees, ensuring a brighter future for them.

During August, a significant portion of my monthly transfers was dedicated to constructing and repairing a door for my granary. This granary will serve as the storage facility for my upcoming maize harvest. I acquired materials for this project, including a single piece of iron sheet for $8.5, various pieces of timber, and nails. Additionally, I compensated the mason $5 for his skilled labor. In total, these expenses amounted to $30. I am currently filled with joy as I commence the maize harvesting process on my expansive two-acre farm. The initial signs are promising, and I have every confidence in securing an abundant food supply. Recognizing the necessity of secure storage for this anticipated harvest, I took the initiative to repair the granary door, ensuring the safety of my yield. Moreover, I allocated the remaining funds to purchase essential household items. This included spending $2.5 on washing detergent and $1.5 on sugar, all of which are crucial for my family's well-being. I deeply appreciate the ongoing financial support I receive through these monthly transfers.

My main goal is to expand my current tailoring business. I have a shop but I find it a bit squeezed and I would want to expand it so that I add more machines and stock to increase the profits and also be one of the known tailors in the area. Therefore, I want to continue saving $15 of my transfers and by the end of the year, I shall have accumulated the amount that would help me with the expansion and later buy more machines and employ more employees.

The transfers that I received were of great help. I have a large family of 10 and I always have the responsibility of taking care of them, but it had never been easy with the little income that I get from my tailoring business. So far I have been grateful for the financial support that I have been receiving from GiveDirectly because it had been playing a great role in terms of feeding my family. With the recent amount, I managed to buy food worth $10.5 and I was happy because I now had stock to last us for some days. I also had a child who was sent home for school fees and therefore I paid $10 and finally saved the remaining amount of $14 because I had plans to expand my current business.

My goal is to start a tailoring business. Since I already own a sewing machine and I have the tailoring expertise, what I need right now is a shop space and materials to kickstart the business. My dream would be to run the enterprise in Mombasa town because the demand is higher there than it is in the village where I stay. To accomplish this, I will need approximately $100 for the materials and shop rent as starting capital. I will be happy if the cash transfers will enable me to implement the business in the next three months. At least this will give me a reliable source of income that I could rely on to support my husband in taking care of our four children.

I have been intending to start up my own business where I sew clothes to make a living. I already happen to have a sewing machine so all I needed was my own shop and also some sewing material and other items that I would need to set up the business. That is why I have been saving KES 1,000 since May last year that I could eventually start the business this year. Similarly this time around I saved up KES 1,000 as routine for the business. I proceeded to spend KES 400 on the purposes of nutrition so I ended up buying 1 kg of rice and 2 kg of wheat flour. I still have a balance of KES 2,000 left on me which I plan on using to begin investing in poultry farming for commercial benefit.

When I realized that I had finally received the money I decided to come together with my mother in-law who had received money from the Organization as well and together we each contributed KES 1,000 so that we could look into nutrition for the family because we shared our meals. I went ahead to buy a bag of maize flour which contained a dozen packets due to food shortage in our homes. Afterwards I took another KES 1,000 and decided to pay tuition fee for two of my children since they had been kicked out of school the previous day. I left behind KES 1,000 as well which I decided to leave in my savings account in case I needed the money in the future.

Giving financial support without any conditions was the best idea that the organization had. I have witnessed people improve their lives in various ways in our village. Those who did not have a reliable source of income have opened up small businesses to keep them going while most people can finally afford a whole day's meal which was not the case in our village due to the prolonged drought we have been facing. I have not heard of any complaints or dissatisfaction from anyone but gratitude.

Tailoring has been my source of income. Even though it does not pay much but at least I am glad I usually get something at the end of the day. I have 3 children in primary school and it will not be long until they graduate to secondary school which will require huge school fees. I am, planning to invest in poultry as an additional source of income with a projection of selling them in the future to raise my children's school fees and to meet other household expenses. When I received the second transfer I saved the whole of it so that I can use it to purchase chicken for rearing. I will be adding more every month until I reach about 50 of them which is my target.

At the time I noticed an Mpesa message in my phone, I did not first believe that it was mine because the promise seemed to real to believe. However, upon confirming from my immediate neighbor that the transfer had been sent to all recipients, I felt super excited. It was in the morning at 9 o'clock and I was just at home preparing breakfast for my children. Being moved with the excitement, I shared the same information with my husband who resides in Mombasa through a phone call, and he gladly expressed his gratitude to GiveDirectly. I was convinced that out of the transfer, I would be able to accomplish my goal of doing poultry project.

Although I have not fully expanded my poultry farming as I had been desiring, I am glad that I have some cash readily available that can help me to improve that project. This has created a difference in my life which I could not notice at first. Initially, I had been longing to start poultry farming but I could not because I did not have sufficient funds. Thanks to GiveDirectly for making this more real to me than it was before.

For several years, I have been having a dream of running a poultry project. However, I have not been able to execute this project because I did not have adequate funds. Despite the fact that I have not yet spent my recent transfer, I am hopeful that once I stabilize after child bearing, I shall be able to implement this project with the transfer I received. From the sale of my chicken, I shall be able to raise additional money to support my family.