"I previously worked in manual labor to provide for my family, but my life took a turn when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following the doctor's advice, I am no longer able to engage in those activities, and my days are now spent on light household chores at home. As a widow without external support, I solely depend on financial transfers to cover the costs of my medication and to support my two children who recently started junior high school. Their education is a priority for me, and despite my health situation, my goal is to ensure they are comfortable in school. Balancing the need for their education with my ongoing treatment is challenging, but it remains my primary focus to secure both their academic well-being and my timely recovery."

"Currently, my main objective is to build a decent house, as my current dwelling is in a deteriorating condition. The recent rains have heightened my concerns about its stability, and I am grateful to my neighbours who provided me with temporary refuge. The existing structure is currently supported by heavy poles, but I remain apprehensive about its resilience during future rainfall. To address this, my plan is to acquire at least two iron sheets each month, aiming to accumulate a total of 24 sheets. Once I reach this target, I intend to purchase the necessary building poles and commence the construction process. My goal is not only to have a structurally sound home but also to liberate myself from the insecurity of my current living situation. Achieving this will not only provide me with peace of mind but will also mark a significant improvement in my overall living conditions."

"As I said, I am a seasonal farmer, only farming when the weather is good. I am working towards building a different source of income for me. I would love to support my husband financially especially since we are just starting out and have a very young family. I have been redirecting portions of my transfer to animal purchase and plan to keep this up until I can be able to have enough to breed and sell for money. This will allow us educate our child and even do improvements in our home that my husband's income cannot cover."

"Making and selling charcoal is nota profitable venture, we made do with it but it takes a lot to actually make any money from this venture, it is also very detrimental to our health as we do it. My husband sells water, this makes him an income but not sufficient to invest. I would like for us as a family to build an emergency fund and I hope to achieve this by buying and breeding animals. Now we have goats and chicken which I see making us a good income. I plan to continue increasing them to a point they are enough to be sold for money."

"I am a business woman whose business has been selling sisal to the local markets for the last four years. Normally I would go for my stock daily and sell it daily. This process was very tiresome as a load that can fit your head is a huge load and travelling from home to the farms to restock and back to the markets and then back home is a long way off. I want to make my work easier. My goal is to buy larger amounts of sisal stocks, secure a store where I can save my things and sell slowly from there, this will cut down on my transportation costs and also will be less tiring for me as I expand the business."

"My spending in January looks like my typical spending on most school months. I have five children who are all school going, One is in form one while the rest are in primary school. I am not involved in any money making venture, My husband on the other hand moved to the city started a hawking business which we all depend on. This cash transfers have saved us when it come to our children's education which is not little since the number of children in school is large and now we have a child in high school which is very expensive. I hope to direct all my transfers to continue education my children so that I can look back later in life and say that the education of my children was facilitated by Givedirectly."

"I have reared birds before, chicken, ducks and even Guinea fowls. All this birds are tiny birds and you cannot make much from their sale, for example a chick from chicken can be sold for as low as $1, this for me felt like a loss as they were also very prone to the new castle disease which keeps wiping out chicken flocks in our area. I looked at this and decided to rare turkeys which are big in size , bring in better income and are less prone to this commonly existing diseases. A Turkey chick can go for $5 and this is a very young chick. My goal is to breed my Turkeys and build a bigger house to hold them in large numbers and then sell them at a profit. This funds combined from savings from my teaching job I hope to put up a business."

"As I said earlier my house is a one roomed house that is not sufficient for me and my children. My children sleep in their uncles house who stays in the city. My goal is to add another house to the house which we own for my children. I have already finished buying iron sheets but now my concern is on building poles. I plan to use my savings in the sacco and merry go round to buy the building poles then negotiate with the mason on his charges before I can start building and I am hoping through this transfers I am able to achieve this goal."

"As I said we are currently seven of us in the merry go round, I received my share in January, I got a goat and took care of needs such as school fees for my youngest, got material for clothes and school uniform for my children. I am a single mother and hence fully reliant on myself for my needs. Being in a merry go round is something that is helping me build funds for needs that I may have with my family. I plan to continue with saving part of my transfers to the merry go round. I also plan to continue with the sacco since this is aimed at building a house for myself. I live with my mother and since my children are growing I would want them to have more space to stay in and hence my desire for a house of my own."

"For many years, I have supported myself and my family through physically demanding construction jobs. However, as I grow older, I am finding it increasingly difficult to continue with this line of work. I understand that these jobs pay meagre wages, and I need to look for other options to provide for my family. I have seven children who go to school and depend on me for their support. To secure a better future for them, I have decided to start a grocery shop that specializes in selling fruits and vegetables. I plan to save my transfers and sell some of my goats to raise the capital required to start this business. My aim is to create a reliable source of income that will not only help me support my family but also provide for my children's education. By doing so, I hope to reduce our dependency on manual labour jobs that are often scarce and unpredictable. Through this grocery shop, I want to create a stable and sustainable business that will help me secure a better future for my family and provide them with educational opportunities beyond the challenges posed by manual labour."