After enrolling in the program, I anticipated receiving a notification confirming the first transfer. In one evening at around 4:00 p.m., the notification came while I was home alone. I was overjoyed and eager to tell my husband, who was out on his usual motorcycle taxi job. Unfortunately, despite calling him three times, I was unable to contact him. I then sent him a message for the first time on my new phone, which was delivered properly. I waited patiently for him to return home, and when he did, he was equally excited. However, before collecting the money from the nearby shopping center on the third day, we needed to align our goals.

After spending so much of the first transfer on food, I am grateful that we have never gone a single day without eating since. This has been the biggest difference in my daily life thus far. We have enough food for my household, which I can easily replenish with the proceeds from the casual jobs I have been doing. I am looking forward to the second transfer, which I hope to use in other new projects as I work hard to ensure that I venture into sustainable farming to ensure a continuous supply of foodstuff for our use as well as surplus for sale.

For a long time, I relied entirely on casual labor to supplement my income, while my husband worked as a rider providing motorcycle taxi service after acquiring a motorcycle on loan. Since starting the work, the majority of his earnings had gone toward repaying the $4 daily to the motorcycle seller, and he was unlikely to come home with any extra cash. Casual work on my side had been hard to come by, particularly during the dry season, and all our expectations rested on the first transfer after enrollment. Buying enough food for my family of three was an issue given our limited funds. I paid $90 for a sack of maize, 5 kg of dry beans, a carton of milk with 12 packets, sugar, tea leaves, and salt. We have been eating hearty meals without missing a beat since then. I also spent $30 on two goats that I hope will assist us with milk production in the future and whose offspring will be useful in an emergency. In addition, I needed gutters to gather rainwater from the roof, so I purchased two for $16. Despite the fact that I don't have enough collecting materials, I hope to purchase enough gutters to surround the roof in the future. I used the rest of the money to purchase a $2 rechargeable torch to supplement the solar lighting system we were using, as well as $2 toiletries. I am grateful for the support that I received and look forward to accomplishing much with the second transfer.