"The first thing that comes to mind when I close my eyes is building a spacious house for my wife and two children. Our current two-room structure, built in 2002, is becoming small for the my growing family, and am afraid there will eventually be limited privacy in the house. My wife and I have had conversations around constructing a three-room house made of brick walls and a tin roof. To accomplish this, I require at least $1000, which is hard to accumulate given the other financial burdens, like school fees, that I bear. However, my plan is to use every cash transfer from now on to boost my business of buying and selling goats. Increasing my capital, will enhance my profits and eventually grow savings that will fund the project. I would be happy if my goal would be successful by end of 2024."

"My main objective for this year is to use a significant amount of my transfers to buy goats. My three primary school-aged children are entirely dependent on my husband and me for financial support. Making sure that we pay our children's school fees on time and avoid having them sent home has proven to be a difficult task while working as casual laborers selling charcoal. I'll be planning for their future in education by investing in livestock. If I run out of money and am unable to pay their tuition, I will sell the goats and use the proceeds to cover their costs."

"I intend on investing on my farm this year by buying a couple of farm animals. Ideally, I would have loved to buy a couple of cows, but unfortunately they are quite expensive in the market, and with the money I receive, I cannot afford one. Therefore, I came up with a plan that I would purchase goats, and then eventually, when I had enough, I would go ahead and sell them so that I could buy livestock. I have so far managed to buy four goats, which I'm quite happy about. Apart from that, I will also ensure that I look into your tuition for the family, especially since we're experiencing quite severe climate changes that do not support any farming."

"When I started receiving cash transfers, I began a project of rearing poultry as an investment. As of now, the flock has around 30 chickens, which requires a larger shed than the space I set aside to occupy the birds in my corridor. Were it not for financial obligations like providing food and school fees for my children, I would have built the shelter before buying the chickens. Gratefully, all is not lost as I hope to use the upcoming cash transfers to construct the shed for my poultry. I hope it is accomplished by December."

"I had been purchasing construction materials with the monthly transfers I receive from GiveDirectly in order to use them in the construction of a new house to replace the old one we are currently living in. So far, I have purchased 16 iron sheets out of a total of 20, and I still need to purchase building poles in the coming months. After finishing the construction, I hope to start a chicken buying and selling business in the coming year. I plan to collect chickens from the local community and sell them at a profit in the nearby markets. With the proceeds from this venture, I hope to expand the business and ensure its long-term viability even after the GiveDirectly program expires."

"My top most priority is to ensure that I look after my kids especially when it comes to their education. This is because I want to equip my children so that they can be able to have a better future and stand a chance to make the most for themselves later on. That is why with each transfer I receive I will ensure that I have paid for their tuition fees so that they can remain in school. I am quite happy that with the funds that I have received in the past I was able to build myself a house. Therefore, my next project is to ensure that I invest in growing my farm by buying a couple of goats and poultry."

"What GiveDirectly does well is giving people money because they believe that people know what they want and understand their needs. This way, they have been able to empower so many people. Even though the transfers are unconditional, I would encourage the organization to be conducting financial literacy classes because given that you work with poor and some illiterate people, such classes would empower people to spend the money more wisely and on better ways."

"If it were not for the transfers, I wouldn't be where I am today. I wouldn't have been living in a two bedroom house and I wouldn't have owned livestock. This applies to so many people in the village whom their lives changed in different ways. Therefore, what GiveDirectly does well is empowering people to change their lives through the cash transfers, keep it up."

"Depending on farming alone is not so reliable, therefore my goal would be for me to start a grocery business where I will be selling a variety of vegetables including the ones from my farm. To, realise this dream, I plan on saving at least $10 per month from selling vegetables. I believe this would be helpful and act as an additional source of income for our family."

"In the next one year I hope to accumulate enough money and be in a position to start a small business that will help me sustain the needs of my family. I still have two of my children pursuing their education at secondary level and this calls for much more resources that will help me pay their school fees. With the drought situation that we are currently experiencing, relying on agriculture alone may not yield much and hence the need to think of other investments that will help me raise enough money to pay school fees. I do not expect to get the capital to start this business accumulated at once but I hope to start saving from casual work and farming proceeds as I move towards achieving this."