The free and unbiased enrollment process is a key area to commend on. For the past few years, we have had several organizations lining up in our villages to help us because of the state of poverty. The big difference is that the other process of selecting the right people to receive the aid from the other organizations were marred by corruption and other people, me included, could not benefit from it. However, this was not the case with GiveDirectly, as many people were fairly enrolled and benefit from the program.

I am the sole breadwinner in my family. I have a small business where I sell dried fish pulled out from the small rivers and streams. Because of the long drought we have been experiencing in the recent years, the water level has gone down and has affected the number of fish we get from the rivers. This has heavily affected my business negatively as I am not in a position to sell the fish daily unlike before. The fish are very expensive and once we sell them to the customer, the profit margin is tiny. I spend the little I earn only on buying food, as I hardly have any left to save. It is for this reason that I purchased some two ducks at KSH 900 so that I can slowly venture into poultry farming and widen my source of income. This will be a huge step forward for me and my family to be financially stable. I also used the remaining amount of money to buy food. With the challenges I have been facing with my business, I cannot provide food for my family all the days. I bought the food in bulk to give me more time to plan and save the little I will earn within that period.

I received the text message at 9 am. I had gone to graze my livestock in the field. While at it my phone rang loudly. I checked it out and noticed that I had received the text. Since I am illiterate I was unable to read the contents of the text message. I waited and during lunch, I asked my son who was from school to read it for me. He confirmed to me that I had indeed received the transfer from GiveDirectly.

The money has brought a big difference to me and my extended family. I can attest to you that life was very hard before receiving the transfer. I went through several days without eating and once I did it was just one meal per day. Receiving the transfer was the best news for me. My family and I were able to have something to eat.

 I spent KSH 200 paying exam fees for my grandchild. My son who is the father of my grandchild currently does not have a job. The corona pandemic affected his source of income and was among the workers who were laid off. Ever since life has been tough for me and is not able to support his family. When my grandchild was sent home from school to come and pick exams fee, I saw it wise to pay that for him since I had received the transfer. I am glad that he was able to sit for his exams. I also spent the rest of the amount on buying food. Now that my son is struggling financially, I had to step in and buy some food stock that we shared with his family