"We currently live in a two-room house, with our two boys and two girls sharing a single room. As the boys grow older, they will need separate rooms for privacy and independence. To address this, I am planning to build a three-room house. This new arrangement will allow us to vacate our current house for our sons while we move into the new one, providing everyone with the privacy they need. Although I haven't started construction yet, I am grateful to GiveDirectly for their support, which will enable me to achieve this goal. I have already begun buying building materials and aim to continue acquiring them through my monthly transfers. This is my major goal for the coming year and beyond. I am thankful for the financial support, which previously allowed me to buy a goat something I couldn't have managed without this assistance."

"It was around 3:00 PM and I was in bed, relaxing after a tiresome day working on my farm. Suddenly, my phone, which was right next to me, buzzed with a notification. Curiously, I checked the message and saw that it was from M-Pesa, indicating the receipt of a transfer from GD. I was overjoyed to receive the money and immediately shared the good news with my family, who were equally excited. We had been yearning to own a TV, so we planned to go to town the following day to buy it. Thank you, GD, for making it possible for us to acquire something that seemed impossible."

"I plan to expand my egg-selling business. Currently, I buy only one crate, which gives me a $5 profit, and I finish selling it every day even though I start at midday. To increase my income, I plan to buy three crates a day. Although I struggle with using a bucket to hawk my boiled eggs, I plan to buy a trolley. Using a bucket is inconvenient because the eggs get cold and it is not presentable. A trolley will help me keep the eggs warm and look more professional. I plan to use my current savings from the business to invest in this improvement."

"I have a daughter who completed her secondary school education and is supposed to join college this year in September to pursue a course in education. My plan for this year is to continue saving my transfers in our merry-go-round and pool funds so that when September comes, I am able to enroll my daughter in college. Additionally, I am planning to continue burning and selling charcoal to make more money, which I will add to the pooled funds with the aim of my daughter joining college. Once she has joined, I plan to continue investing some of the transfers from the pooled fund that I would have continued saving to buy more goats, in hopes that they will multiply and increase in number so that I may be able to sell them in the future and continue supporting my children's education"

"Our area faces chronic water shortages, and we have to travel long distances to fetch water. It's costly to buy water, and sometimes I have to pay for a motorbike to transport it to my home. Due to my health issues, I can't make long trips, so I have to hire someone to carry water for me, which is expensive. I want to express my gratitude to GiveDirectly because soon this issue will be resolved. With my first transfer, I'm in the process of installing a water tap. I covered the installation costs, including purchasing a water meter. My goal is to address the water challenges in my household. In addition to using the water for my own needs, I plan to sell it to others to generate income. I also used some of the transfer money to buy a cow. Previously, I only had goats, so I'm pleased to have a cow now too. I no longer have to buy milk, and I intend to sell the surplus to cover my basic needs."

"I have been struggling to find proper shelter for many years without any hope of upgrading to a better house. I have been living in a dilapidated house with a roof made of palm leaves, which is only a temporary solution. Whenever it rained, my house became uninhabitable, and finding alternative shelter was not an option. I am a widow who sells charcoal in the village and does other manual jobs to make ends meet. Additionally, I have two children currently in high school who rely on my meager earnings for their upkeep and school fees. With all these responsibilities, saving for a new house seemed impossible as providing food was also a challenge. There were times when my children were sent home from school for lack of fees and had to stay at home for almost a month while I struggled to raise the required amount. Receiving the transfers brought immense relief to me and my children. I used $180 to clear the fee arrears and my children are now comfortably back in school. Furthermore, I am in the process of building a new house with an iron roof. I purchased 22 pieces of iron sheets, building poles, nails, and timber to facilitate the construction. I am looking forward to finally sheltering in my new iron-roofed house after spending years in a shanty, dilapidated small house. Lastly, I bought food supplies and made sure that my family had enough food to eat despite the financial hurdles."

"Living in a two-room house presents challenges, especially with growing children. My two sons share one room, while my daughters and I occupy the other. With my daughters approaching adulthood and my husband frequently away for work, it's clear they'll need their own space. Therefore, my new goal is to construct an additional bedroom for my daughters next year. This expansion will ease our cramped living conditions and provide my daughters with the privacy and comfort they deserve. I am optimistic that this project will greatly enhance our family's well-being and create a more conducive environment for us."

"For many years, I have been a watermelon farmer. While watermelons yield significant profits, they also require a substantial amount of capital to cultivate, which sometimes prevents me from planting them consistently. So, upon receiving this amount, I was overjoyed, knowing that $450 would be enough to start planting watermelons. This money would allow me to purchase seeds, medicines for spraying, and fuel for the generator to pump water to my farm.Life has not been that tough since my wife and I separated four years ago, as I live with my 6-year-old son, and providing for the two of us is manageable. Additionally, sometimes when I harvest my crops, I store them at home to ensure we have food to eat during lean times.GiveDirectly has remained a vital source of support for us, and we will always praise the organization for genuinely caring about the lives of poor people."

"GiveDirectly has done exceptionally well, starting from the Barazas where they educated us on the proper use of the money. They emphasized that we should not use the funds for illegal purposes, such as drinking alcohol or purchasing harmful items. Instead, they advised us to invest the money in development projects. As a result, our lives have significantly improved, and now everyone in my village is busy with their own agricultural work, thanks to the capital we received from GiveDirectly.On my side, GiveDirectly is doing the best job possible. The only additional support we could use would be help with constructing roads or installing electricity poles in our area. These are the main obstacles to our progress. Although we have crops from our farms, the poor and impassable roads prevent vehicles from reaching us, causing us to lose markets for our produce."

"My house is a two roomed house with small rooms. I have a big family of 6 children myself and my husband when he is around. this house is too little to accommodate all of us. My plan is to expand it. I will be able to continue saving in my savings group to achieve this goal. I hope to buy 20 iron sheets first as they are the most expensive of the materials I need. I will then move to the next once this is done."