It is a season in our community that we are putting up plans that enhance the successful right of passage for our sons. This marks a transition from their childhood to manhood through circumcision. This never came into mind when I was planning to spend both transfers but at the moment I am building my savings to allow him to be accommodated by a neighbor with two of his sons undergoing the same passage.

The selection of the area of operation by GiveDirectly served us well, and I feel that we deserved this support since we were in deep poverty. Many spent the money well after the advice - to spend it in a way that would change their families' living standards. I also loved the fact that the transfer was divided into two and not given in one transfer as this would have triggered quick and impulse spending that would have made us indulge in many activities at once with poor final results, thus minimal transformation. I saw no fault at all, and I am praying for GiveDirectly to keep doing the great work in other villages.

My husband had been working as a hired rider that used to give him an inconsistent income ranging from KES 100 to KES 300 on a good day. Mid last year, we opted to obtain a motorcycle, and even though it was on loan, we had been able to make consistent installments to the company that gave it to us. On receiving the first and the second transfer, we felt it was a good time to clear the debt so that we can start operating and making savings for our household from its daily proceeds. Out of the second transfer, I paid a total of KES 24000 to clear the debt that was still pending, obtained a valid number plate, and is now fully in operation run and managed by my husband. It was also a great time for my household in that the second transfer came just some weeks before my delivery. I was lucky that the government was able to cover most of the maternity cost and had to only spend KES 10000 on the weekly check-ups that I had to attend. I later bought a sack of dry maize grains that we used as foodstuffs with my family of three, bought two water containers at KES 1500 each that have been helpful in water reservation for the household use and the frequent laundry I had been doing, and spent the remaining amount on the clothing for my newborn baby and emergencies during that time when I could do nothing on my own.

It was around 10 am and I was on my way to my neighbor's house to borrow a hoe since I wanted to go to the farm. As I was heading there, I heard my phone ringing notifying me of a new message. I pulled it out of my pocket and I checked it. I was so happy when I read the SMS which was saying that I had received the promised transfer from GiveDirectly. I could not hide my excitement and I immediately asked my neighbor when I got to her home if she had received the transfer, she told me with lots of happiness that she had too received it. I called my husband who was out on work and I informed him of the good news. He was so happy on hearing this that he made an effort to come home in the evening and we planned on how we were going to spend it.

The transfer has brought a very big difference in our lives as a family. We were able to buy a cow with part of the transfer. With the cow, I no longer go out in the morning to purchase milk for preparing breakfast for my family. We hence no longer incur the cost of buying milk. We were also able to purchase a bag of maize which we are still consuming up to now. With fewer food costs, we have been able to save up the money that we make from the motorcycle business.

We spent most of our first transfer money on buying a cow. We bought the cow at KES 30000. We decided to settle on the decision of buying a cow because we didn't have one. We hence didn't have any source of milk and we used to incur the cost of buying milk daily. We used to buy a litre or two of milk every day which goes at KES 40 per day. This was costly to us since we still had to incur the cost of buying maize and other household needs. We had always desired to have a cow of our own but due to financial constraints, we were not in a position to buy one. I am a small-scale subsistence farmer while my husband is a motorcycle taxi driver. The money that he makes from his business most of it usually goes to the purchase of food and milk which usually takes up approximately KES 300 per day. As a result we have not been able to save up enough money to buy a cow. GiveDirectly has hence been of great help to us since with the cow that we bought, we no longer incur the cost of buying milk.