My desire has been to start a business that would ensure that I get some income. When I received this financial support, I invested KES 32000 to buy sardines which I am supplying during market days. This to me has now become my main source of income which has helped me as a parent to fulfill our very basic necessities like providing daily foodstuffs for the family. I also own a cow, that I acquired through this transfer. I am expecting it to reproduce and benefit from the milk that this cow will be producing. In addition to all these, I also managed to purchase some building materials in order to construct a new house for my children. They have been seeking shelter at night in the neighborhood. I was not at peace at all seeing them in this situation . I am however grateful because currently, they no longer sleep in the neighborhood because they are now having their own house to shelter.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly has done well in giving us the money without any conditions, from which I was able to spend it effectively to improve my own household by investing it in the business of selling sardines, which upto now I earn a daily income. So far, there is nothing that GiveDirectly doesn't do well.

I spent KES 15000 of my second transfer to buy a cow. I had none of these livestock but through this transfer, I am now boasting of owning this cow. I am hoping that with time, it will reproduce and have many of them. I will sell the offspring and raise more cash in the future and invest in business. I also spent a portion of the transfer to pay for my son's medical bills and buying medicines. He had been ill for sometime now and meeting the full cost was difficult to me due to financial constraints. I am grateful to GiveDirectly because he was treated and now recuperating well. I also bought some ironsheets and building poles to construct a house for my children. I am happy that they will no longer be seeking shelter from the neighborhood. I also did some shopping on the amount that remained. I bought some foodstuffs for my family and paying for other household expenses.

I was previously doing my business of selling sardines to my immediate neighbours and who could purchase at my home. This was because the stock was not much to sell elsewhere. However, the transfer-enabled me to buy a large stock and I am now selling out in the open air market where customers are many. My business has greatly expanded and improved through the support from GiveDirectly. This so far is the biggest difference in my daily life.

I received the notification early in the morning after I heard a message ringtone and on checking to know who the sender was, I realised that the sender was GiveDirectly that I had received money from them. As I went through the message, I could feel the happiness that engulfed me at that moment and called for my family to come and we celebrate together, for I could not believe I would get much money in my lifetime.

I have been a fishmonger and that is my activity that I engage myself in as a source of income. I was buying and selling sardines to my neighbours at home though on a small scale and my desire was that one day I would do it in the open air markets during market days. I was not doing it on a large scale due to inadequate capital. I am happy that when I received my first transfer from GiveDirectly, I bought several sacks of Omena and this was the very large stock that made me be a supplier to many people. Through the transfer, I was able to expand my business and now doing well since I got the financial support from GiveDirectly. I also bought three goats to keep and which I am expecting that they will increase in number in future and if I am faced with a financial crisis then I will be able to bail myself out by selling some of them to meet my financial needs. I spent the small portion that remained to buy enough food for my family so that food would not be a problem for a much longer time.