"I have a family of two members. My husband and I do teaching as a profession but I also do poultry farming. Farming has been my passion since when I was young. Currently I have 60 chicken, 22 ducks and 28 guinea fowls. The challenge is lack of a well established structure. Sometimes they fall under thieves hands. I will use $800 to build a modern structure and add more poultry. I will also use $200 to buy their feeds. This project will bring happiness to me once the structure is fully equipped." (Country: Kenya)

"My objective for the remainder of this year and beyond is to diligently save enough funds to construct a new house. Throughout this rainy season, I have faced challenges with a leaking roof that has unfortunately damaged some of my belongings. Additionally, the deteriorating condition of the house's support poles has heightened my concern, emphasizing the need for urgent action to prevent a potential collapse. To ensure I can achieve this goal, I consistently save each month in our local savings group. I am immensely grateful to GiveDirectly for their support, and I am optimistic that with their help, my dream of building a new house will soon become a reality." (Country: Kenya)

"I've always longed to attend college; it's been a fervent prayer of mine. I come from a humble family, and financial constraints made even finishing high school a significant challenge. Additionally, being from a family of eight has meant that feeding everyone and providing for basic needs has always been difficult for my parents. Recognizing the need to independently forge ahead, I decided to save $98 towards my college education. With the remaining $4 from my transfer, I purchased a few personal essentials like soap, which we were in need of at the time." (Country: Kenya)

"As a married father of six school aged children, two boys and four girls, my wife and I have faced great challenges due to unemployment. We have relied on charcoal burning, but the income has never been enough to cover our family's needs, including school fees for our children. The struggle to make ends meet has been emotionally draining, especially as I have always wanted to provide a comfortable life for my loved ones. Our situation was saddening, with debts from every corner. One day, while I was at home, I heard from neighbors that they had received transfers from GiveDirectly. My phone had issues and was not working, so I borrowed a device from a neighbor and inserted my SIM card to confirm if I too had received the transfers. To my surprise and relief, I discovered that I too had received financial assistance from GiveDirectly. It was a moment of sheer joy and gratitude, knowing that our circumstances were about to change for the better. My immediate thought was to invest in a motorcycle, a means to progress the charcoal business that we had, which would significantly improve our family's quality of life." (Country: Kenya)

"In the next few months and years, my biggest goal is to build a home for myself and my family. We lost our house to a powerful storm, and now we live in a small, leaky place that feels unbearable when it rains. I dream of having a simple one-room house where we can feel safe and secure. I'm relying on some upcoming transfers to gather the materials needed to make this dream a reality." (Country: Kenya)

"In the next few months and years, my big goal is to build a new house with two rooms. The one I live in now is really old and rusty. To make this happen, I'm counting on my SILC (Savings and Internal Lending Communities) group savings. This way, I can gather the materials needed for building. By the end of the year, I believe I'll have saved up enough. Once the house is finished, I'll be so happy to expand my flock of goats. They'll help me out financially in the future. I don't expect much financial support from my daughter because she's responsible for educating my youngest kids since am not employed." (Country: Kenya)

"Working as a herb doctor, the income I make is mostly enough for providing basic needs like school fees and food for my wife and two children. There is nothing much I could do with the earnings beyond the essentials. It is due to this reason that I have not been able to install a water tank, an idea that was born from the water scarcity in my region. Having the water tank will mean that I can harvest and store rainwater for a long period. My goal is to install an underground tank with a capacity of at least 5000 liters." (Country: Kenya)

"I am struggling with the leaking roof of my grass thatched house. I am planning to build a two roomed house for my family with GiveDirectly's cash transfer and this will cost me about KES 50000. I am privileged to have tailoring skills. With the skills I can feed my family well without struggling. There is no tailoring service in my area and people in the community travel to Marigat town to repair and make their clothes. This can be a good opportunity for me to utilize my skills and tap more income to my family. I intend to buy a sewing machine with KES 30000 and kickstart my business." (Country: Kenya)

"Initially, I had considered starting a small hotel business to generate daily income and support my family. However, I realized that saving enough for this venture would take a considerable amount of time, especially given the financial constraints my family faces. I was concerned that I might be tempted to use my savings for other urgent needs, jeopardizing my goal of opening a shop business. Instead, I decided to invest in livestock, specifically goats, with the money I save. I plan to start with two goats, which will multiply over time through breeding. Once I have a sufficient number of goats, I can sell some to raise capital for my dream hotel business. I am committed to saving a portion of my monthly transfers and combining it with earnings from casual jobs to achieve this goal. Investing in goats allows me to demonstrate serious commitment to this project while building a sustainable source of income for the future. Ultimately, I envision using the profits from goat farming to transition into my desired hotel business, providing a stable and fulfilling livelihood for my family." (Country: Kenya)

"I am planning to expand my poultry farm by adding 50 chicks to the 30 I've already started with. My goal is to rear these chicks and sell them after three months. The inspiration for this investment came from my uncle and my sister, who have both been successful in poultry farming. Their success encouraged me to venture into this field. Additionally, my initial experience in buying and selling chickens highlighted the potential of this business. I purchase each chick at $1.1 and sell them for $6 after three months. Fortunately, the market demand is great, with brokers regularly coming to my home to buy the chickens. This steady market makes the business even more promising." (Country: Kenya)