My current objective is to build a kitchen. I will benefit significantly from this, especially while it's rainy season. As of right now, I cook in the same house. After cooking, I'm generally disturbed by smoke, so I have to wait outside the house until quite late at night to let the smoke clear before going to bed. Again, the iron sheets are being destroyed by the smoke. This is my priority if I get some money.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly did so well by helping me financially. This was the best since we all have different needs therefore we would choose what works well for us. This empowered me to own assets that I think would take years for me to have in my homestead. Therefore all went well and there is no need for them to change their mode of operation.

For over forty years since I got married I was sleeping on a small traditional bed that was in a poor condition. Poverty did not allow me to buy a good bed since the family needed to be taken care of and I was just a casual laborer. Upon getting the second transfer, I saw it to buy a nice standard bed and a mattress. The bed cost me $70 while the mattress cost $60. After that, I bought some plumbing materials to complete a water project that I had started. I had a project of fixing a water tap at home because the waterpoint is at a distance. The plumbing materials and the plumber's charges cost $150. Thereafter I bought a goat for $35 and saved the remaining amount for the family's upkeep.

While lying on my bed relaxing at around 3 pm, I heard a message ringtone from my phone. Since I am illiterate, I had to wait for my helper who had gone to look after livestock in the field. No sooner did he arrive than I gave him the phone to check what the message was all about. Upon checking, he informed me that I had received the first transfer of $550 from GiveDirectly. My heart was filled with happiness for receiving a massive amount of money at once. My happiness grew when I figured out how I was going to change my life for the better.

The main difference that has stood out in my life as far as the transfer is concerned is the plumbing work that was done. This is a clear indication that soon I will have water available at my home. I am happy that I will not be traveling long distances in search of fresh water. Again, I am now confident that I managed to pay a debt that was giving me sleepless nights. I was not sure how I would settle it, thanks to GiveDirectly for enabling me.

Getting fresh water was a struggle and expensive. I used to travel a long distance to fetch some water. Since I have some livestock, I was using an average of 150 liters of water per day and this costs $15 apart from the transport cost. Therefore, I saw the need to apply for a water connection at my home. Based on that I bought all the plumbing materials and did the fitting as well as paying for the meter for $400 though the water has not been fixed yet. I am sure they will not take much time and soon I will have some water at home. This will reduce the burden of traveling and the cost to source the same. I am happy that GiveDirectly empowered me to fix a water tap at my home. Thereafter, I settled a debt of $60, bought a goat for $35, and used the remaining amount to buy some food.