"For a long time, I have been seeking shelter from my neighbors. I am happy that It has not been the same for the past three months. I sold my cow and build a house which is halfway to its completion but I have hopes that all will be well."

"We are a family of 11, I have 9 children who are all school going. My husband used to work in Mombasa as a cleaner but lost his job over covid 19 and had to relocate back home. Currently we depend on charcoal burning for a living and life has become unbearable, i always wish i had a seperate income generating activity. Upon receiving,the cash transfer i hope to finish my 2 roomed house with its verandah, my children are all grown and we feel they need a lot of privacy, especially my daughters. The building will cost around 30000 ksh, the rest of the transfer we plan to buy 2 cows at 10,000 ksh each. I appreciate givedirectly for thinking about us."

"Livestock farming has proved to be a very important asset for me. Two years ago, I received 31,000 KES after selling a cow I had initially bought at 10,000 KES. The 21,000 KES profit I made helped me clear my children's fee arrears. Receiving this money means good education for my 3 children. I already have 3 cows but I intend to add 4, costing 10,000 KES each. In a span of 1 year, I believe they will have doubled. Once the heifers mature, they will attract a selling price of not less than 35,000 KES. With such earnings, I will be able to support my daughters all through their education journey."

"Previously, I was leaving in a dilapidated house. So the moment I received the transfer I used some of the money to purchase materials so that I can rebuild my house.As an old person with many of grandchildren who depend on me sometimes life becomes so difficult due to lack of milk and food to give them,i decide to buy one dairy cow so that I can use the milk from the cow to feed the family as well as sell them."

"I do a business of buying and selling livestock. I normally buy two cows at 12000 KES each. I will use my transfers to expand my business. I am planning to add increase the number of cows I buy by five. This will translates to more profits. The rest of the amount will be used to cater to other household needs."

"Even though I come from a humble background, my dream of becoming a doctor has never faded. I am now in class 8 which requires me to put more effort so I would secure a good school in secondary. Often, I would have challenges when it comes to paying my fees and, in a week, I would be sent home twice due to arrears. My father who works as a farmer and a charcoal manufacturer earns very little to support both my elder brother (who is in form 2) and I. To help out, opted to start poultry farming which I believe would grow and I would be able to buy goats and cows using the profit. Through this practice, I will attain enough to assist in putting us through school and meet the family's needs. So, I used the funds to purchase 5 chickens."

"For the longest time, my family and I have been struggling financially. Other than the challenge of getting food, I also didn't have the luxury of owning many clothes. 4 old pairs were all I had. Now that I'm receiving this money, I know I will have more. I plan to improve my life; I will start with poultry farming. Once I get 16 chickens to sell, I will then buy four goats. I will rear and once I get 10 of them to sell, I will then buy two cows. I will continue with the trend until I get four cows to sell at KES 60000 each. From its sale, I will use the funds to open a restaurant business. This will grant us some financial breakthroughs. Thereby helping put through school my two siblings and I."

"We spent KES 50000 of our recent transfer on buying two cows. We bought one at KES 35000 and the other at KES 15000. We bought the cows to save the money. We had planned before we got the transfers that we were going to use the whole transfer amount and add some of our savings and restart an agro-vet shop. We had started the business before with the small capital that we had but it collapsed since there were other big agro-vet shops and some of the customers who use to take things on credit, took a long time to repay them. The agro-vet business used to help us a lot since we were able to meet all our needs, that is, to buy food and pay school fees for our children. When it collapsed, life became hard. My husband had to engage in some casual jobs such as selling cows at the market to get some money. He studied veterinary medicine in college and at times people casually seek his services. There is also a tractor for hire for farming and he has been casually employed to manage it. I, on the other hand, have trained as a primary school teacher but I have not been permanently employed. I am casually employed at a nearby school where they usually pay me KES 3000 per month. This money is little and is only enough for purchasing food and other household needs. We thus plan to sell the cows in the future and use the money in starting the business. With the remaining transfer amount, we bought maize for our consumption and some clothes."

"The biggest difference in the purchase of a lactating cow that is currently providing us with milk.I am happy that we no longer purchase milk on a daily basis and we have diverted the money into buying other household items."

"The transfer has brought a very big difference into our lives as a family. We managed to finish building the house and hence the children now have a nice place to sleep in. Our child in the university was also able to go on with his studies well. We also managed to fence our farm and hence we no longer worry about the cows going to the farm and destroying crops. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for the support."