"Looking ahead, my primary goal is to continue supporting my children’s education by using a portion of the transfers to keep up with their school fees, ensuring they receive the best possible education without interruptions. I also plan to expand our livestock. I aim to grow a sizeable herd of goats, which will serve as a safety net in case of emergencies. To work towards this, I recently purchased two hens, which have already hatched 21 chicks. Once these chicks mature, I plan to sell them and use the money to buy more goats. This is a simple yet effective plan to help me achieve my goal of building up our livestock. I am deeply thankful for the financial support, which is empowering me to work towards a more secure and promising future for my family."

"With seven children in school and no stable source of income, my priority is to work hard in my charcoal burning and selling business to ensure that my children receive a good education and have a better life in the future. Paying their school fees has always been essential for me, and I plan to continue doing so by allocating a portion of the transfers I receive from GiveDirectly. Additionally, I want to secure our future by investing in livestock. To achieve this, I intend to use part of the transfers and start small by buying gradually chicken. My hope is that these chicken will multiply, increasing in number and value, which will allow me to trade them for goats. As the goats also multiply, I plan to trade some of them for female cows, with the intention of having them breed as well and multiply in number. My ultimate goal is to build a substantial herd of livestock of various types that will serve as a valuable asset. This will enable me to support my family and cover my children's education as they transition to higher education levels, especially when this program comes to an end. I am very grateful for the support and opportunities that GiveDirectly has provided us, helping us change our future for the better."

"I run a donut selling business to provide for my family's daily needs. However, my current capital is insufficient to generate significant revenue from this business. Nonetheless, I continue to support it as best as I can. On the other hand, my spouse burns and sells charcoal, but it doesn't earn much due to the scarcity of trees for making charcoal. My main focus at the moment is ensuring that my son completes his junior secondary school successfully. I also have four other children whose education I need to support. Thanks to the support from GiveDirectly, I can ensure that their school fees are paid on time while I work hard to provide for our basic needs. I have ten children, some of whom dropped out of school due to lack of school fees, but now I have five in school. I am dedicated to ensuring that those in school receive the best education. This is because I believe that education is the key to securing good jobs and supporting their families in the future, as well as supporting us as parents."

"To meet my daily needs, I work on casual jobs in house construction. Although I completed my secondary education in 2019, I could not pursue further studies due to financial constraints. This led me to take up odd jobs, with the hope of saving enough money to eventually continue my education. I have always been determined to further my studies, and the financial support from Give Directly has given me the boost I needed to start working toward that goal. In July this year, I took a significant step by enrolling in a driving course, which I paid $59 in tuition fees to join. I am glad to be progressing through the course and look forward to completing it soon. Acquiring driving skills is an important milestone for me because it opens the door to better job opportunities. I am confident that this course will help me secure well-paying jobs, which will, in turn, allow me to save more money and pursue my passion for mechanical engineering.While working towards my own goal, I also wanted to support my family. I used $20 from the transfers to pay school fees for my younger sibling, who had been sent home due to a huge debt. Seeing him back in school and continuing with his education makes me incredibly happy, and I am proud that I could help in this way. Additionally, I spent $23 on food, ensuring that my family had a consistent supply of food. Thanks to this, we never missed any meals, and I could focus on other priorities knowing that my family was well-fed."

"I run a small vegetable business in my village. Before being enrolled into the cash transfer program, my business faced numerous challenges due to limited capital. The lack of sufficient funds made it difficult to expand, and I often found myself using the business capital to meet other urgent needs, such as purchasing food for my family or paying school fees for my children. This significantly hindered the growth of my business, resulting in minimal profits and preventing any meaningful expansion. However, since receiving the financial support, my business has transformed dramatically. I was able to inject more capital into the business, allowing it to grow and stabilize. As a result, I am now realizing much higher profits than before. The increased income has not only enabled me to meet my family's needs more comfortably, but it has also given me the opportunity to save and plan for the future. I managed to save $60 in a savings group with the hope of accumulating enough to construct a three-bedroom stone-walled house for my family. This would be a dream come true and a major step forward in providing a secure and comfortable home for my loved ones. Additionally, I spent $30 of my transfer to pay school fees for my two children who are currently in primary school. Ensuring their uninterrupted education is one of my top priorities, and it gives me immense happiness to see them in school without any challenges. Education is a powerful tool for their future, and I am grateful that I can now support them better. I also spent $12 on food for my family, ensuring that we have enough to eat. We no longer worry about missing meals, which is a great relief and has improved our well-being."

"My husband is currently suffering from Tuberculosis. This illness has severely impacted his health, leaving him incapacitated and unable to work. As a result, I have become the sole breadwinner for our family of seven. Unfortunately, I do not have a well-paying job and often rely on casual jobs that pay very little money, which makes it challenging to support the entire household. However, thanks to the financial boost from the transfers, I am now able to cater to most of our needs without much struggle. I used $60 from the transfer to pay school fees for my four children. This ensured that they could stay in school without being sent home due to fee arrears. Seeing my children continue their education without any interruptions gives me immense happiness and peace of mind. Additionally, I spent $24 to purchase food for my family, ensuring that we had enough to eat and never lacked or missed any meals. Having enough food has been a great relief, as it guarantees that my family is well-nourished and healthy. I also took the opportunity to purchase new clothes for myself for $10. This replaced the worn-out clothes that I had, and I now look smart and presentable, which brings me joy and boosts my self-esteem. Moreover, I invested $4 in buying two hens. I am optimistic that this investment will be beneficial in the future. Once the hens multiply and reproduce, I will be able to sell some of the chicks and earn some profit. I view this as a small step toward establishing a more sustainable source of income for my family. Another $4 was spent on transport to visit my sick husband, who is currently receiving treatment in the hospital. I am relieved that his health is improving, and I look forward to seeing him fully recover. It is a tough time for our family, but I am thankful for the financial support that has helped me manage the situation and take care of my family"

"My life has undergone a huge transformation ever since I was enrolled in the cash transfer program. Before, I struggled immensely to put meals on the table for my family of nine because I didn’t have any reliable source of income. My husband does not have a permanent job and often relies on the goodwill of his friends to lend him their motorcycles so he can work and earn some money. This inconsistency in income made it extremely difficult to meet our daily needs, and my children were frequently sent home from school due to unpaid school fees. With the help of the transfers, I was able to make significant improvements in my family’s well-being. I paid $15 in school fees, ensuring that my children could go back to school and continue with their education without interruptions. I also spent $40 to purchase food for my family, which meant we no longer had to worry about where our next meal would come from. Knowing that my family was well-fed and nourished gave me immense relief and happiness. In addition, I spent $12 on animal feeds for my over 40 hens, ensuring their survival and well-being. I view these hens as a future source of income. Once they mature, I plan to sell some of them and earn a good profit. This will allow me to reinvest in other areas of my household’s needs. Furthermore, I saved $20 in a savings group with the goal of accumulating funds to purchase livestock, particularly goats. The goats will be a future investment and serve as a safety net in case of emergencies."

"My main goal in the coming year and beyond is to prioritize the education of my children. I believe that ensuring they receive a good education will provide them with a brighter future. I plan to use a portion of my transfers to pay their school fees consistently, making sure that they don’t owe any money to their school and can focus on their studies without any financial interruptions. I am deeply grateful for the financial support that is enabling me to invest in my children’s education and meet some of our family’s urgent needs. Thank you for this opportunity to improve our lives and secure a better future for my children."

"I run a small vegetable business in the village, while my husband works as a casual laborer, selling water in Mombasa town. Despite our combined efforts, our incomes are limited and insufficient to meet all our needs. However, with the financial support from the transfers, I have been able to manage household expenses, buy food, and pay for my children’s school fees. Recently, I spent $52 on food items, including twelve packets of maize flour, a bag of maize, a kilogram of sugar, beans, and vegetables. This purchase has ensured that my family always has enough to eat, and we have not had to worry about missing any meals. Additionally, I used $28 to pay the school fees for my daughter, who is in secondary school at Mitangani Secondary School. Seeing her continue her education brings me so much joy and peace of mind. I also bought her a new pair of school shoes and a new uniform for $11, replacing her old, worn-out set. She now looks presentable and confident in her new uniform, which makes me really happy. I purchased two pieces of iron sheets, bringing the total of iron sheets I have purchased so far to 22. I am very happy with the progress i have made so far in ensuring that I attain my goal of building a new house. I am very appreciative of the financial support in helping me achieve my set out goals."

"After a powerful windstorm hit our village, my house collapsed, leaving my family of six without a home. We managed to construct a makeshift shelter as a temporary solution, but it’s far from ideal. My husband, who works building mud houses, earns very little from his job, making it difficult for him to support all our family’s needs. To ease the burden and ensure our children’s education continues uninterrupted, I spent $25 on school fees for my four children and an additional $4 on stationery to facilitate their learning. Making sure that my family has enough to eat is a priority, so I allocated $36 to buy food, ensuring we had enough for everyone. I also purchased six hens for $17, hoping to start a small poultry project. Unfortunately, I lost my previous flock to a strange disease, but I’m optimistic that these new hens will thrive, multiply, and eventually provide a source of income when I sell some. Additionally, I saved $20 with a local savings group, aiming to accumulate enough to buy building stones for constructing a new, more permanent house. Despite the setbacks and financial struggles we face, I’m incredibly grateful for the support from Give Directly. The transfers have been a lifeline, enabling us to meet essential needs and giving us hope for a more stable future."