My life is different than it would have been if I had never received the transfer in that I own a decent shelter for the family, Back in the days, I was living in a traditional grass-thatched single-roomed house which I used as a kitchen, bedroom, and living room at the same time. Moreover, I was able to seek better medical care for my wife who had a mental illness. In addition, I was able to pay for the medical bills for my father who passed away my father 3 days after receiving the transfer. I also used part of the money for burial. Lastly, My 2 children are learning well without being send home for school fees, previously they could spend the a week at home due to fee issues.

In your opinion, GiveDirectly did well for helping the less fortunate in my village through the cash transfer program. Through the transfer, our lives in the village had changed positively since every household used their transfer wisely. I don't see anything that it does not do well.

I spent KES 20,000 to complete the construction of my house by purchasing 7 iron sheets at KES900 each and set aside KES 15000 to clear the labour costs. Earlier, I was living in a traditional grass-thatched single roomed house which I used as kitchen, bedroom, and living room at the same time.During the day, I had to place my bedding on one corner to get a place to place chairs. This brought a lot of health challenges since I had eyes problem due to the long-term exposure to smoke. In addition, used KES 17000 to seek proper medical care for my wife who has a mental illness but I lacked money to take her to a specialist. Currently, I she is recovering and able to do the households chores. Furthermore, I spent the 8000 to clear the term one board fees for my child who is in secondary school. The remaining amount assist me in upgrading my goat rearing activities by purchasing four more goats.

I was on my farm preparing some pastures for the livestock when I heard my phone ringing. At first, I ignored it but then it kept on ringing and I suspected that there was good with the notification. Therefore I decided to check what the notifications were all about. On checking, I realized that it was the Mpesa message from GiveDirectly that I had anxiously been waiting for. I was overwhelmed with joy and even stopped what I was doing and went back home to share the great news with the rest of my family members.

The biggest difference in my daily life that I can proudly mention is that I am now a proud owner of a decent iron-roofed house. It has been my desire to construct one for so many years but I could not afford it because of the poverty life that stricken my household. Therefore I had no option other than to stay under a small grass-thatched house that was so leaky. My children were always attacked by pneumonia and asthma as a result of the cold nights since the house had some cracks on all the walls. It was also the same house that we used as a kitchen and so the smoke could make my children suffocate as well. I am now a happy father because the transfers enable me to transform positively. My new house is spacious enough, with some well-plastered walls and we no longer complain about all the sufferings we went through. Courtesy of GiveDirectly.

I spent part of my first transfer on buying some building materials such as iron sheets, building poles, ropes, timber, and nails. I had to purchase all these to construct a new house since the previous one was a small round hut grass thatched. It was so leaking whenever it could rain so I had to seek shelter in my friend's house. I addition to that, I bought goats that will now be the living assets to lean on in case of any emergency. I also paid school fees for my children and bought some stationery for them. With the remaing amount of money, I bought sufficient foodstuffs for my family.