"I have a shop business running with a capital of $200. Inflation has affected the business because many customers buy on credit. This has made me unable to stock some important items that are needed in the community. I will use $400 to boost my business by adding stock. Currently, I make a profit of $30 per month and I hope it will grow to around $50 per month when I add the stock. I have a wider market since I am the only person having a shop business in the community. I also have a cousin brother who is a total orphan and he is at Mariakani secondary school. I will use $100 to pay school fees for him so that he can stay at school all the time. He gets support from well-wishers. I also have an idea of diversifying the business by starting a broiler chicken business. I will use $100 for the purchase of the chickens, $50 to buy the feeds, and $150 to build the poultry house. This program will help me improve my living standard. I have a family of four and my husband works with logistic companies in Mombasa."

"What brings me Joy is my cow is able to give my family milk, I sometimes sell my chicken and get money for survival ."

"I have had this plan for a very long time, but my lack of funds prevented me from completing it previously. I would like to have at least four chickens by the end of the year. With one already, my goal is to use the next transfers to acquire more and expand the flock. When these birds grow, I'll be able to sell them to buy goats, which I'll then sell to raise funds for a new house for myself. My current house is in poor condition and could collapse at any time."

"Working as a masonry helper on construction sites is an energy-draining exercise because it leaves one exhausted. I feel like I am sick and tired of this job as I have developed persistent backaches because of carrying heavy bags of cement throughout the day. I desire to venture into poultry keeping for the reason that it is easy to manage. To start this journey, I plan to buy 20 chickens for $5 each. I also intend to spend another $100 to construct a structure where they will safely lay eggs. I am happy that my children will enjoy eating eggs that are rich in proteins and this will enhance their growth. Receiving this money will give me time to rest as I will not continue with the current work that I do."

"My biggest challenge is money. Money to renovate our house with, put iron sheets, cement the cracks and make it livable. We don have food in the house because there is too much sun here the maize dries up since the rains stop early. We had chickens back then but they all died. We'd like to have some again because we sell when desperate."

"I now have a herd of goats, and I am optimistic I will gain a lot from them as they multiply. But in the following year, I want to get two oxen and an ox-drawn plow. It is a doable project, and I am optimistic that I will achieve it by the end of the following year. I am also eager to start raising chickens. Even though I have not purchased them, I am still excited to work on them and watch this happen. I shall be so glad to witness that improvement in my way of life."

"When I was unable to proceed with my college studies for a lack of school fees, I resorted to livestock farming. Lack of enough capital has limited me from diversifying my investment. Currently, I rely on goats rearing to be able to meet the basic needs of my family like school fees and food. Since it is seasonal, it is not enough to save for future use. The transfers from Give directly will fulfil my desire to start poultry farming. There is a readily available market for eggs and chicken meat in this area. This will cost me $700 to build a shelter, labour, and purchase chicken and feeds. I project on earning $ 100 monthly and I am grateful for it will change my family life for the better because we will have a stable source of income."

"Since my family of 3 gave up on farming 2 years ago, we concentrated on chicken rearing and charcoal burning to earn income. However, charcoal burning has not been viable because it is seasonal and risky for one might be sanctioned. As a result, I fully ventured into chicken rearing and I am pleased with the progress. I am glad that this investment has provided my family with income to purchase basic needs such as food."

"In February 2022, I opened up a beauty shop in Loboi centre to earn income to support my husband in raising my family of 4. However, when I went on maternity leave 6 months ago, I employed a lady to look after the shop as she attends to her hotel business. Unfortunately, the sales went down and I was not in a position to oversee the running of the business as I was busy attending to my newborn. Now that I have resumed fully, I intend to use all the transfers to restock the products and even expand to earn a profit to venture into chicken farming. I will further sell the eggs and chicken to purchase food for the household when the business sales are low."

"We used to have a poultry project which was assisting us a great deal. Sometimes this year in April there was an outbreak of chicken Newcastle disease that wiped out all my 20 Chickens and several chicks. I could get at least $1.50 from the sale of eggs which was enough to meet my daily needs. After a deep consultation with my husband, we have decided to purchase a dairy cow with this help from Give Directly since cows are not susceptible to diseases like chickens. It is for this reason that we intend to purchase a dairy cow for $400 for milk production for household consumption and sell the surplus to earn a living. This will be a bigger boost for us and we are extremely happy. We have not been able to purchase one because most of our resources have gone to school fees and we have been inadequate financially. At last, we can afford a smile and anticipate an improved livelihood to better our living standard."