When I got enrolled by GiveDirectly into this program I decided that with each transfer I receive I would save some money so that eventually I could use the money to build a better house for my family and I . This included a much bigger house and better roofing from iron sheets rather than the dried palm tree leaves widely known as Makuti that I always had to renew and that our recent house had. I therefore put away KES 2,000 from the funds that I had received. Then I went on to use the remaining KES 1,000 to add stock to my business where I sold coconut. I bought a hundred coconuts and took to the market and where I would sell them from a range of KES 20 to KES 30 in consideration to the size.

I am planning to build a decent iron roofed house since the current one is not spacious enough. It is also built using coconut tree leaves as roofing materials which is not durable. I have to renovate the roof from time to time and it is really tiresome. I thus spent the KES 3050 I received on buying part of the materials needed like building poles. I am happy that soon I will be sheltering in an iron roofed house because its more permanent compared to using coconut tree leaves for roofing .

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well by ensuring we get proper education on how best we can use the money once we receive the transfer. This has opened our eyes and prompted us to think even harder on a useful project to invest the money in so that we can uplift our lives from these jaws of poverty.

I have a business where I sell coconuts. I have a farm full of coconut trees. I get some of the coconuts directly from my farm while I buy others from other farmers. Since the commencement of the drought three years ago, the produce from the coconuts has greatly reduced on my farm. This then made me buy my entire stock from other farmers. At times the business is bad. For the past few months, it has been very worse for me in terms of making a killing in sales. When I received the transfer I injected KSH 1000 worth of stock so that I could boost and improve the sales. I am very happy now that the business is back and doing well at the moment. I also spent KSH 2000 buying a mattress. Due to the financial crisis, I was going through, I could not afford to buy myself a mattress that I could sleep on. I was sleeping on a woven sisal mat on the floor of my house. I am now happy that I have a better place where I can sleep peacefully.

I received the amount on a Thursday and it was in the morning. I was definitely about me receiving the funds since it was going to help me in many ways. I was very grateful for receiving the funds. I am still happy to date.

I can start experiencing a difference in my life in that the money is going to uplift me and raise my living standards. I am going to use the funds to invest in projects that will help me earn more money and help out my family.

I spent KSH 2000 on buying food for my family. I spent a huge amount of the money on buying food because we are experiencing a hard time in our farms at the moment due to the drought. So I made the decision to buy food so that we can have something to eat. The energy will help us fight and try earn something for another day. I also used KSH 1000 and saved it in the chama. The chama has helped me in that any time I am in need of money I can go request for a loan and repay it with some interest. I also save through the chama and at the end of the year I am able to have some money to use in my personal project and also buy food and other stuffs.