I recently finished the construction of my house but unfortunately I did not manage to completely ensure everything was all set and done because I ran out of cash. So after receiving the transfers I decided to finish up on some of the things that I had left pending like installing my windows. I took the transfers and decided to buy metal that I used to finish up on one of the windows as the money was not enough to ensure all the windows were made. I used the entire transfers for this job which was KES 3,000. The reason as to why I also made the windows was for security purposes as well so that I would feel safe in my own house.

I spent my third transfer to engage 3 people from my village who helped in weeding my cassava crop plantation. This exercise hosted me a total of KES 2,200. Currently, my cassava plantation is doing pretty well. I look forward to have good harvest and use a portion of my harvested cassava for household consumption. I shall sell an excess harvest to supplement my household income. I am very grateful to GiveDirectly.

I think GiveDirectly does well in terms of performing constant checks trying to know how we spent the money. This is good as it keeps us in check to ensure we spend the money in the right way. This also challenges us to invest appropriately in income-generating projects and also better our lives.

I spent the transfer buying three bags of cement. I used the cement to improve my floor. The floor of my house was bare of sand and stones. This time round I did improve it by ensuring it is plastered. The cement cost me a KSH 1950. My house is now presentable unlike before where the soil was a source of dust in the house. The little stone posed a danger to my child who is small and still crawling. This has now changed everything for me, my child crawls freely and I have no hard instances of knocking stone during the night. In addition, I spent KSH 400 of the transfer to pay my electricity bill. Now I am happy that I will have my electricity back and my kids will be able to study well during the night. I also spent the remaining KSH 650 buying food for my family. The food stock that was in the house was very little.

I was on my way heading to Mnarani when I received a message confirming that I had received funds from an unknown number. I thought maybe somebody sent cash to the wrong number so I waited to receive a call from the owner. As I was still waiting my friend called me and told me that he had received money from Give Directly. That’s the moment when everything became clear and realized the cash was from give directly. I became very happy.

The cash has made a very big difference in my life. I did not have any plans that would give me such an amount of money. This money has helped me buy food for my family and household items. I don’t take that for granted it’s something I am grateful for. With the money, I am going to uplift myself in many ways.

I received a total of KSH 1200 from GiveDirectly. I spent a total of KSH 700 on buying food for my family. The past few months have been very tough for my family and me in terms of acquiring the basic needs. I did lose my job at the beginning of the year and ever since things have been tough for me. We live from hand to mouth. All the amount I get from doing small jobs just caters to food and school fees for my kids at times. I also spent KSH 500 on acquiring household items such as jugs, cups, and plates. The utensils I have been using all this time are very few and since we had used them for a very long time they were worn out, others were broken and I decided to purchase other utensils for use at home.