I am married with five children. 1 has completed school, 2 are in high school, one is in class 5, and the lastborn is yet to start school. Payment of their fees has been a challenge for my husband and I. As a result, they have accrued arrears of KES 21000. With little earnings from my charcoal manufacturing business and his housekeeping job, we find ourselves struggling to meet most of our needs. This has somehow improved when I started receiving funds from give directly. Where often, I would dedicate part of the transfer towards their fees. I also started saving up in the merry-go-round to gather capital to start a mobile business where I will be selling secondhand clothes. So, I used the money equally to reduce the fee arrears, purchase some food for the family, and also made some savings.

In my opinion, Give Directly does well by giving people cash and letting them decide on how to spend it. This is better than giving people foodstuffs which is not long-lasting unlike cash which allows people to be more diverse.

I have two children in secondary school and one in primary school. At the time when I received my transfers they had been sent back home for school fee. I, therefore, spent Ksh.6000 on their school fees. I am so grateful for Give Directly for giving my children the chance to sit for their end term assessment. Had I not paid for the school fee on time, they would have not been allowed to sit for their end term assessment. Besides that, I also spent Sh.2000 on food stuffs for the family. The prolonged drought we experienced last year led to low farm yields.

I had gone to fetch water early that morning and when I was coming back, I saw my son was waiting for me at the entrance to tell me that I had gotten a message. I took the phone and saw that it was around 9 am. When I confirmed that I did get the money, I was very happy. The money came in when I was in a tough position as my son had been sent home from school.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that now I have financial stability meaning I can buy food for my children without a major strain. I am also able to take my children to school without them being turned back due to school fees balances. I am living a happy stress-free life thanks to Give directly.

Having a son in High school form three needs me as his mother to prioritize his education before anything else as he has been home for the majority of the hours he should spend in school. I paid KES.2000 on school fees so that he does not miss out more. I spent the other KES 1000 on the foodstuff, especially dry foods. I wanted my family to have good meals that they would fill out their stomachs for the night. This all would not be possible without Give directly.