My goal was to invest in something that will make my future financially secure. Now that I invested in buying livestock and starting a business, my focus now is to build my business and rearing my livestock.

In my opinion, what GiveDirectly does well is having a fair enrollment process and following up after sending the transfer to check on us and how we have spend the transfers to ensure that we spend the money well despite it being unconditional.

Being a motorcycle ride has not played a big role in achieving my dreams because the income that I was earning averaging to 200 KES was enough to provide my family and save towards investment. My dream has always been starting a business and investing in livestock. I spend 30000 KES to buy goats and KES 23000 KES to open a general shop. I'm happy that my business is picking up well and I'm earning income enough to sustain my family. I'm hopeful that the herd of livestock will multiply and I'll be able to sell them in future to supplement my income.

It was exactly 11 AM when I was at my daily hustle when I saw the message notifications from my mobile. Since I was not expecting to hear from anyone, I decided to proceed with what I was handling. A few minutes later, another message popped in, I was quite curious and decided to check who it was. On reading out the contents, I realized that it was an Mpesa message from GiveDirectly. I had finally received my first KES 55000 that I had anxiously been waiting for. I couldn't contain my joy and I remember going back home and sharing the news with my other family members. They were all excited knowing that our lives shall change positively.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that through the transfers I am sleeping comfortably in decent beddings. For all that long, I have been sleeping on the floor and some of my children would use some old clothes as beddings. My life has been full of sorrows and pains during the periods that I had to sleep in an unconducive environment. My children would always get sick and as a result, we have been in and out of the hospital. In addition, they could complain of back pains and this was because of the uncomfortable old clothes that they slept on. Also, on my side, I was always attacked by some jiggers and some other harmful insects which were affecting me healthwise. I have been yearning to purchase them for quite a long time because of the financial hardships from my casual jobs I was not able to afford them and take good care of the five members. However, I was always optimistic that I would achieve all my heart desires soon. I am so happy that the coming of GiveDirectly has made it happen. My family and I are all grateful because we are now sleeping comfortably with no more pain.

I spent part of my forts transfer on buying some building materials such as building poles, threads, and the labor charge at a total cost of KES 10000. This was purposely for the renovation of my house whose wall was almost collapsing and it was stressing me a lot. I was so always worried that it woud fall anytime because of its condition leaving us homeless. Also, I gave my inlaw KES 10000 as the dowry since I was frustrated for not having settled it for all those years. To add to that I spent KES 20000 on purchasing two beds and mattresses for my children and I to replace the old beddings that I have been using for all that long. Also, I bought new clothes for my spouse and kids and the remaining amount I had to buy foodstuffs for my family and other household items