"We currently live in a dilapidated grass-thatched house that is also too small to comfortably accommodate my large family which consists of 9 children, 7 of whom are still under our care. The house leaks which makes rainy seasons the most dreadful time for my family as we have to be strategic and creative to keep ourselves and our valuable items dry. Besides this, we have to sleep in the same room with 3 of the children while the older ones have to sleep in a borrowed house at the neighbor's. It is risky for them to walk each night to the neighbour's compound, but even more embarrassing. The status of the house is also not very appealing and comes with its own kind of shame as it is not many that still live in grass-thatched houses in this century, so moving to new status by constructing an iron-roofed house would be a great achievement for my family. We are working together with my spouse who is also a Give Directly beneficiary to achieve this goal as soon as possible by bringing together our monthly transfers and purchasing construction materials in bits as we are not able to raise enough money for a one time purchase. If we save the money, we may be forced to spend it in times of an emergency hence the reason we opt to purchase the materials."

"It would be a great joy if we could construct a more spacious iron-roofed house to replace the leaking, grass-thatched one we live in. The house is also too small to accommodate my large family which consists of 9 children, 7 of whom are still under our care. It is a nightmare whenever it rains because the house leaks so we have to sit in strategic places, and with the looming El Nino rains, it is paramount that we have a better house as soon as possible. Besides the physical problems we face, we also have to endure the shame of sleeping in the same room with our children who are old enough to have a separate room. Worst of all is that those who are old enough have to sleep at a neighbour's house leaving them with very little supervision. Having a more decent and a much bigger house to accommodate all of us would make me very happy. A bonus would be being able to harvest rain water for domestic use ."

"At the moment, my major goal is to ensure I pay the required fees for the course I am currently undertaking on hairdressing and beauty therapy. I therefore have no choice but to ensure that I channel most, if not all of my transfers towards fee payment. I will be graduating towards the end of next year so as I edge towards graduation, I will start building up on savings that can later on enable me to open my own beauty parlour. This however will only be possible once I manage to clear next year's school fees. Should I fail to raise enough money to start the business soon enough after graduation, I will seek employment in any beauty parlor that may be open to hiring me so that I can gain more experience as I continue saving. For now however, I have to focus on completing the course."

"Due to my vulnerable health condition, I am unable to engage in strenuous work to support myself and my two children in the sixth grade. Since being diagnosed with the condition, I have relied on my son's income from riding a motorcycle. However, his earnings are inconsistent, and providing daily meals can be challenging at times. I'm grateful that the cash transfers have helped alleviate some of the hardships in my household, particularly the issue of hunger. However, I understand that the cash aid will not last forever, and my goal is to create a source of income that can continue to support us even after the transfer period ends. I am particularly interested in raising livestock like goats. So far, I have obtained three goats from previous cash transfers, and I aim to acquire at least five more and allow them to reproduce to grow the herd. With this, I believe that in the future, I will be able to support my children's education without any difficulties."

"Our current house is very small which is not able to accommodate our huge family of 6 children. For this reason, we had to separately construct a temporary room where my husband and I could sleep so that the children could share the two-roomed house where the girls share one room while the boys share the other. To keep our sheep safe from wild dogs, we unfortunately, have to share the tiny room with them which is not only unhygienic but also uncomfortable. After realizing that it would not be possible to save enough money to construct a decent house, we decided to purchase the required construction materials in bits and commence the construction once we have all that we need. This is why I will be channeling most of my transfers to the purchase of the materials and any other items or resources required for the construction of the new house. Having a separate house will bring us a huge joy as we will have a decent, private, comfortable and hygienic place to sleep. What would top not having to share a room with your sheep? The current structure will exclusively serve as a sheep shelter which will also give room for expansion should the flock increase."

"Was weeding her sweet potatoes in the garden, felt excited,slept, and the following day went to withdraw Thought of iron sheets and a cow for rearing"

"Having been blessed with twins a few weeks ago, I feel I'm faced with a great lot of challenges. Firstly, the father of my children refused to take care of children which has left me to provide and take care of them on my own. This sometimes brings tears to my eyes since I can't work and have to depend on my elderly mother who can't barely make ends meet. Additionally, I have a heart problem and suffer from a stomach ulcer which is a big challenge since I can't do hard casual labor which depend on. My life is very hard."

"Currently, I'm facing a lot of challenges in my life. However, one of the greatest challenges that is making my life quite difficult is the lack of money and work to get enough money to meet all my needs. I solely depend on casual labor which includes, collecting firewood and fetching water for my neighbors. This kind of work gives me about $3 a week which is not enough for all the needs including food. This makes my life very challenging and saddening especially when I have to borrow food and assistance from my neighbours and relatives."

"The prolonged drought is the main challenge that I feel is making my life difficult. During the planting season, I managed to sell my goats and planted one hectare of maize. However, I only got 90 KGS of maize. This is so because of the lack of rain and enough water for irrigation. This makes my life difficult because I know that in the next four months, I won't have food for my family which stresses me a lot."

"My current dwelling has been in a state of disrepair for several years, causing persistent concern. Regrettably, I lacked the necessary financial means to embark on any renovations, and the lingering instability of the house has been a constant worry. However, upon receiving these recent transfers, I made a firm commitment to address this issue. My plan is to gradually purchase at least two iron sheets every month, with the ultimate objective of acquiring a total of 20. This accumulation of iron sheets is the first step in my endeavor to restore my home to its former state of decency. Once I have amassed the required iron sheets, I will then focus on procuring the necessary building poles to initiate the renovation process."