"I am an animal herder for our family flocks. I do not make any money herding and hence I do not have an income. When I heard I will be receiving money from Givedirectly I decided that I wanted to start something that could help me earn. I have a goal of venturing into chicken business. I want to use some of my transfers to build a chicken coup and then buy chicken and keep them their. I know this is a good business since the chicken I bought in February has already hatched and has 10 chicks now. I want that this chicken can grow in number and I am able to sell them and get profits. This will make me financially independent since all the money I use I keep asking my husband who works in a bakery in the city. I also want to be able to educate my children through this business."

"The only dream I have right now is to complete school with a good grade and open my fashion shop. I will be sewing clothes that I will be selling to my clients at affordable prices and I also ensure I buy a sewing machine that will make my work easier. Life is really becoming tough and it needs tougher people with divided ideas of making it in life. I would also want to start my poultry farm where I will buy a lot of chicken and as I wait for them to hatch I will be selling the other ones. With increased profit, I will be able to build my house and live the kind of life that I have always dreamt of having."

"When I received the recent ash transfer, I was unwell and needed immediate medical attention. My son, who I mostly depend on, had not earned enough from his casual tasks to take me to the hospital. So I spent $12 on my treatment. Am happy that my health is gradually going back to normal. Given that there the household had run out of food, and there was no money to secure more, I spent the rest to buy maize flour. From January’s cash, I acquired three chickens using $15 for rearing purposes. When the flock grows, I could sell them to support the needs of my family. I spent the remaining $19 on building poles, for repairing a wall in my house that collapsed from infestation by ants. In December, I spent $13 on more building poles, and the remaining $21 on food. Am grateful that hunger has become less of a problem in my household because of the transfers. Unlike before, we rarely miss meals or sleep hungry. "

"Since am still in form two, my focus is on completing high school with great grades that will secure me a spot at the university or college. I would be happy if I graduated from high school and throughout university without having to miss classes from unpaid school fees. Although this is a nearly impossible wish given the tough economy and low financial status of my family, I hope to be able to finance my education through Give Directly’s cash transfers and my chicken-rearing project.  "

"My goal for the next one year and beyond is to start a chicken-rearing project. I would want to rear chicken in large scale and later sell some of them to buy livestock ie. goats knowing that with the projects in place, I would be in a better position even when faced with a financial challenge. The transfers form GiveDirectly would help me attain my dreams since I would be saving some amount of money on a monthly basis."

"My transfers have been going into buying the same things in December and January. I spent $27.5 December to buy a goat and in January the goats had become more pricey and were now going for $28. I also bought chicken in December at $3 but in January as with goat prices this also had gone up by $0.5 and were now $3.5.I am buying this animals so I can have something to show for the GD transfers I am receiving. In February I changed my spending to redirect the money in getting some construction material since this year I want to build my house. I bought 3 iron sheets and nails which were $30 and $4 respectively."

"The biggest difference I have experienced receiving this transfer is buying the chicken. I do not make much from my work as motorbike rider. Today I have only had one client and I have so far made $1 and its already 2:00pm. I need to make enough to pay my employer and also have my profit so its quite the uphill task. I would never have afforded to buy any animals but now I see myself even getting goats with future transfers. I can see a real change coming into my life even as days go by."

"My goal this year is to get to a point that I can afford to secure my own motorcycle which will ensure I increase the amount of money I make daily. As I had mentioned earlier I am saving monthly $30 of my transfer which is getting me closer to my goal. I also want to go back to animal farming. I used to have chicken before and the number had greatly increased, when I has 50 chicken, I exchanged 10 for a goat until I got 6 goats. This goats gave birth to young ones which grew and after selling them I got to owning two cows which unfortunately died due to the drought. I now want to start rearing chicken and my hope is as the year progresses I will get to this numbers which will allow me go back to where I used to be with my animals."

"Subsistence farming and livestock farming have been the primary sources of income in most households in our community. Despite the fact that their productivity has never been predictable because it is determined by weather conditions, I had hoped to invest more in it with the monthly transfers I receive from GiveDirectly. I spent $30 of the most recent transfer support on a goat that I am hoping will give birth at the end of this month. I had previously purchased three goats, and I am pleased that the number is gradually increasing with the monthly transfers, as I now have four. I also spent $2 on another chicken to add to the one I already had. In the future, I hope they rear and multiply. Besides the livestock farming, I had been obtaining homemade tooth brushes from a specific plant fetched from the forest and selling them to the locals. I hope that the two projects will allow me to continue supporting my single child as well as my parents, who rely on me when they are unable to provide for themselves."

"I am convinced that no matter how little work we put into our business the results will be fantastic. I put a lot of effort into saving money so that I might establish my own poultry farm. I have so far purchased seven chickens and I am confident that they will hatch, allowing me to sell them and purchase additional chicken. In order to save enough money, I will continue with my construction skills and ensure I do it perfectly."