"A lot has changed since I received the first GD transfer. We were in need of a mattress and some food. My two children are now able to go to school with an appropriate school uniform which was not the case before receiving my first transfer. I am planning on doing livestock farming when I receive LS2 and my husband fully welcomes that idea."

"My husband had just left headed to the market when I heard the SMS notification alert. I was so happy when I noticed GD had sent the first transfer. I immediately called my husband who came home as fast as he could. First thing I wanted to do was pay for my whole family's health insurance, which I did the very same day I received LS1. I also paid a debt I had and rere-built the part of my house that had collapsed."

"My husband and I wanted to finish off the construction that had delayed due to lack of enough funds. I spent 50 $ on food and used the rest of the first transfer to finish off the construction activities. I really needed the house to be well built and equipped for me to start benefiting from it."

"As I continue to get my transfer, I hope to accomplish the goal of keeping livestock. So far, I have begun buying goats, and I am hopeful that as my herd grows, chances of raising money for my training will not be as difficult as they used to be. I will be able to get more money from them to help with my tuition expenses. Since I am the firstborn in our family, with the pieces of training, I shall find it easy to use my skills to earn a living and therefore be supportive of our family. Thanks to GiveDirectly for its financial support."

"I had hoped to start a sustainable poultry farming where I would rear indigenous chicken in a free range system, but I could not afford it because I had never had a reliable source of income. Receiving the first transfer from GiveDirectly provided an excellent opportunity to prioritize this project. I needed five rolls of chain link, three of which were four feet long and cost $75, and the other two were five feet long and cost $72. Since then, I have been fencing around the compound and am getting ready to begin the next phase of building a chicken coop after identifying a good design from a nearby farmer. I hope to start the project and grow it so that I can collect eggs and sell offspring to supplement my family's income. I have been running a retail shop in the neighborhood, and the stock has been depreciating because we have been picking our food and spending a portion of the proceeds without replacing it. With $300, I replenished my stock, which included clothes that I had not been selling before. I am glad this has brought in more customers and given us hope for a higher profit margin. In addition, I spent $49 on school fees for my child at a private primary school, and the remainder was spent on other household items that we were lacking."

"I was spending more than a dollar per day on milk for my current family of five. Food and milk have become so expensive that I am unable to save anything from the daily proceeds from the motorcycle taxi I operate. Enrolling in the GiveDirectly program and later receiving the first free cash transfer was a relief for me because I had planned to buy a dairy cow. As a result, I spent $300 on a good breed that I hope will calve soon enough to provide us with enough milk. I hope to start saving money from my taxi business once we have enough milk to use and sell the excess to buy other household foodstuffs. I also started the fencing project, spending $175 on fencing poles, barbed wire, and labor charges after dividing the grazing fields. The cow's restricted movement makes it easier to manage grazing patterns and allows grass to regrow after moving to the next partition. In addition, I spent $55 on groceries and the remaining amount on other household items. I appreciate the help and look forward to doing a lot more with the final transfer."

"Receiving the money from GiveDirectly brought me great joy, especially because I needed to buy more construction materials at the time. I was immediately curious and checked it when I received a message at around 4:00 p.m. The message was simple, and I knew it was from GiveDirectly because I was not expecting anything similar from anyone else. I used some of the money to buy construction materials on the same day after informing my wife, who was working at a nearby school. The next day, I went to a nearby shopping center to gather and purchase additional necessities."

"One of my sons had completed his clinical nursing studies but could not be hired by any hospital because he was not yet licensed. He needed money to get the license, which I could not afford before receiving the first transfer. I was also struggling to meet other financial obligations for his siblings. I gave him $13 immediately after receiving the first transfser, which facilitated his application for the medical license. I also sent $12 to my other son, who is a university student who needed to finish his project before his presentation deadline. Furthermore, I spent $87 on a sack of maize and 10kg rice, which we are still using with my family. I am planning to build a fence around my property to control the movement of my livestock, and I have already spent $12 on two rolls of barbed wire and have yet to cut down some trees to make the fencing poles. I used the remainder to pay my hospital bill following an accidental scratch on my leg from our domestic cat. I am relieved it was not a serious attack, and I have been going to a nearby hospital for a daily $10 injection since then."

"My biggest accomplishment this year and in the future will be to increase my savings so that I can purchase livestock. I can be sure that if I venture into livestock raising, I'll make enough money to meet my needs. I'll buy more goats and enough animal feed with the money from my monthly stipend. This will guarantee that the herd of animals will multiply and have plenty to sell at the market."

"I'd love to purchase a brand-new motorcycle so that I can resume delivering charcoal and other products to Mariakani market on a daily basis. I can no longer use the bicycle I've been riding for the past few years because it broke down. I'm currently taking care of the livestock for my family while I wait to save up the necessary sum through my monthly transfers. Getting the motorcycle will solve my problems, enable me to support my family's basic needs, and enable me to earn a living."