"I am a single mother and the sole provider for my family. Currently, I make ends meet by charcoal burning and selling, but I also struggle with chest pain that limits my ability to work well. My goal is to start a vegetable selling business where I can provide for my family more steadily. With this business, I aim to sell vegetables to my fellow villagers and secure a stable income. This will enable me to pay my children's school fees without difficulty, ensuring they receive a good education and have the opportunity to achieve their life goals. I am determined to prevent them from being sent home from school and to help shape a bright future for them."

"Ten years ago, we lost our mother who was the sole breadwinner of the family. Our father took full responsibility until the year 2021 when he chose to have another family and left us in limbo. I had just completed my secondary school education, the situation forced me to take charge as the guardian of the family. This marked the beginning of the unending financial struggle. My sister Yvonne had just joined Osen secondary school and I understood the hard task of paying school fees. It is even worse considering that I do not have a stable source of income. I am a casual labourer earning about $3 a day. This makes my situation even more difficult, a week ago my sister reported back to the school after staying home for a long time. She had been sent back home to fetch school fees arrears."

"My primary goal is to create a comfortable living space for my sons. Recently, I found immense joy in purchasing a mattress and bed for them. However, their current small house has collapsed due to the heavy rain and it's not giving me good sleep. It had an old, broken roof. Right now, I am in the process of buying metal sheets and storing them at home until I have enough sheets and necessary materials to start constructing a new home for my boys."

"My main goal is to ensure my children receive a good education. Currently, I have six goats, and I believe investing in them is wise because they multiply easily and can be sold when needed to meet my family's needs. By investing in goats, I hope to have a financial safety net so that when my children face challenges, I can sell the goats to cover their school fees."

"When I was enrolled in this program, I knew my life had changed for the better as it was a chance that had never been given to me. And so, I started a cloth-selling business using the previous transfers that I received from GiveDirectly, and growing this business has always been my desire. Currently, my plan is to expand my clothing stock and include a wider variety of clothing as I currently only sell a specific type called leso, which is fast-moving as it is widely worn by many women in our region. To achieve this, I plan to continue investing a portion of my transfers into the business, allowing it to grow and increase my profits. In addition to my business, I own a plot of land that I purchased with previous transfers from GiveDirectly that I have been wanting to develop into something meaningful. Next year, I plan to build rental houses on this plot to create a reliable and sustainable source of income to support my family. For this to come in to realization, I intend to save the profits from my business, allocate a portion of my transfers, and also rely on my son's support to make this dream a reality. Once I accomplish this, I will be incredibly happy, as it has always been my aspiration."

"With my house in such a devastating state, I plan to use the transfers I will receive from GiveDirectly to gradually purchase building materials and eventually construct a new home for my family. This will help us escape the hardship of sleeping in the cold at night and eliminate the need to borrow a place to stay, especially during the rains. Once the house is built, I intend to use my transfers to buy goats, hoping they will multiply and increase in number and value. In the future, my goal is to trade these goats for cows, which will also multiply and provide me with a reliable source of income, particularly when this project comes to an end. I am truly grateful for the support that GiveDirectly is providing me."

"I took a solar light on credit that cost me around $160. To continue enjoying its benefits, I need to make monthly payments, and my plan this year is to repay this debt using the transfers I receive from GiveDirectly. I’m pleased to say that my house is now well-lit, which is a significant improvement. In addition to repaying the debt, I want to save another portion of my transfers in our savings group. Once those savings mature, I plan to use the funds to buy more goats. My hope is that these goats will multiply, increasing in number and value. Eventually, I aim to trade them for female cows, which will also multiply and increase in number and value, hence providing a good source of income, especially once this project comes to an end. I am optimistic that, in the future, I will have something valuable to rely on to support my family."

"I am currently navigating a challenging period in my life after the loss of my wife, who passed away when we had not had any children. Despite this, I have two key goals I want to accomplish. First, I plan to continue saving my transfers from GiveDirectly, along with the profits from my business in my local savings group and access a loan, and use these it as capital for starting a vegetable-selling business that I have always wanted to have. I believe this venture will be transformative, providing me with a daily income to support myself. Once I establish this business, my next goal is to keep saving my transfers, my profits, and my other income from my other hustles and eventually use the accumulated funds to build a house for myself. I envision having a beautiful home that I can take pride in and call my own."

"Ever since my house collapsed due to heavy rains, I have been living in a makeshift shelter, which has been quite disheartening. I often find myself dreaming of having a new home that is comfortable, just like other people in my neighborhood. To make that dream a reality, I've been gradually purchasing building materials using my transfers, with the goal of constructing a new house for my family. This year, I plan to continue buying materials using a portion of my transfers, and I’m excited about the progress I’ve made so far. It feels amazing to see my dream taking shape. Additionally, I intend to save another portion of my transfers in our local savings group. Once my savings mature, I hope to use that money to buy goats. My plan is to let these goats multiply and increase in number and value so that I may use them in the future to take care of my family's needs and also for educational purposes. Once this program comes to an end, I want to have something valuable that I can be proud of."

"I am struggling financially to fend for my family because I do not have any source of income I only depend on my small kitchen garden which is not doing well because people tend to take vegetables on debts and fail to pay back."