We have had to face the consequences of having a mud walled house especially due to the harsh weather conditions we face from time to time. I had vowed to get a new house and I have now bought some of the major materials such as such sand, and building stones which are the most expensive materials in construction. I am now aiming to finish my loan so I can take another one to buy cement and iron sheets as well as pay the mason so that the construction work can begin. I am so greatful to Givedirectly for making this happen.

I am a member of our local village savings and loans association. We usually save through the year and redistribute the cash at the end of the year. Within this time members are free to take loans and pay them off before disbursement of the cash. I was able to take a loan some time back to buy construction materials for the new stone walled house I am to build. I have so far paid $90 from my transfers towards the loan I took. The $12 left went into purchase of food for the children.

I currently reside in a three-roomed mud house, but my long-term aspiration is to own a three-bedroom self-contained home constructed using concrete blocks. To achieve this goal, I have been taking loans to purchase building materials and repaying them with the transfers I receive from GiveDirectly. My plan is to secure additional loans to initiate the construction process and utilize the transfers to repay the loans. Although this process may take considerable time, I am determined to see it through. Once the house is complete, I will be extremely satisfied. Furthermore, once the construction is finished and the transfers continue to arrive, I intend to save them and use them to cover school fees for my children.

As a voluntary Community Health worker, I decided to invest my transfers in building a three-bedroom, self-contained block house instead of spending them on other things. To achieve this, I began taking small loans to buy building materials bit by bit, repaying them with my transfers. Recently, I took out a loan to purchase stone blocks and used my entire $102 transfer to repay it. I am grateful for the progress I’ve made in accumulating building materials. I eagerly look forward to seeing my house completed.

My main goal is to see my family comfortably settled in our new home, a space that will not only accommodate us adequately but also provides the comfort we have longed for. Moving forward it will create an environment that truly enhances the well-being and happiness of my family. We are so excited about the transformative change Givedirectly is bringing in our lives.

Juggling a small business and my husband's casual laborer income, it has been evident that our combined earnings couldn't sustain our household and basic needs. Having received the Givedirectly transfer, I decided to purchase building materials costing $60 in order to address the most pressing need for my family – a new and more spacious home. The current one is dilapidated and fails to provide the comfort we need. For financial stability, I contributed $30 from the transfer to a merry-go-round. This helped me save a significant amount that would help us complete building our house. I was left with $12 that I spent on essential household items. Thanks to Givedirectly, it has enabled us to make significant improvements in our lives.

My goal is to see myself complete this big project I began. The house we are building requires 40 sheets of iron, I now have 27 sheets of iron, my hope is to fill this gap then buy the wood necessary for completing this construction. I want it that when my second born grows into a teenager next year they have their own space while we have enough space to even host guests something that proves a challenge with our current house.

I live with my children in a tiny three roomed house. I have 4 children, my oldest is thirteen years, the follower is entering her teen, the other one is 7 and the youngest three. My children are going and my house is tiny and cannot contain them. I have wanted to expand and get a bigger house but my income coupled by my income cannot meet all our needs and cover this want. Since iron sheets are the most expensive building material I decide to dedicate my cash transfer to buying iron sheets. I bought 3 sheets of iron monthly for the last three months.

As I said I am doing things I could not have done on my own. I live in a small one room house and with my big family of six, this house is insufficient. I have spent over $300 of my transfers to achieve my goal of getting a new family for my house. I aim to build a house that will require forty sheets of Iron to build and being that the roof is the most expensive part of building, I am almost at the end of this goal with me now having 30 sheets of iron. My plan is to get to forty and then start construction. I also want to buy goats and this are to help me educate my children since this animals multiply I cans ell them and educate my children.

Givedirectly has given me an opportunity to do that which I would not have had on my own. The rain has also been kind. I used my April transfers to pay for the tilling of my land, I spent $25 to pay that one acre of my land could be prepared for planting. I also bought seeds in May worth $4 for planting. I have an informal savings group where I send $10 every month which I did send in March, April, and may. I also got 3 iron sheets at $10 each in March and a similar number in May for the same amount. In March the cash left was used to purchase food.

Last year, I set up a goal of buying new iron sheets for building a house. The present house is relatively small, and my children are always uncomfortable. Since I never accomplished that goal, this year, it forms my primary goal. I shall strive through the transfers to buy the remaining 20 iron sheets to build a 30-iron roofed house. I will prioritize building a two-roomed house that is relatively spacious for my children. My other goal is to open a bank account for savings for my children. At the moment, I have four school-going children, and I always struggle to raise their fees. Building up a saving scheme for their education will ease my burden as they advance their studies.

I'm an elderly widow without a steady source of income. Because of my late age and weakening muscles, I am unable to participate in the majority of economic tasks. I must consequently rely on my son, who earns his living by doing odd jobs. My family had a terrific time celebrating Christmas because of the organization, and I spent $34 when I received the most recent transfer to buy food for the celebration. In addition, I did not have a kitchen. Instead, I cooked in my main house, which was a bad idea because the smoke it produced damaged my belongings. In addition, the carbon monoxide that is released during cooking is bad for my health. As a result, I paid $34 on wood that I used to build a kitchen. I'm glad that I now have a separate kitchen.

We have a small house that my husband constructed before we got married. Our family has grown and at the moment the house is too small for the six of us, that is our four children, my spouse and I, but we still squeeze in it. I am not comfortable letting my children sleep in my neighbor's house because I do not find it safe since I will not be able to monitor their movement and thus, we have to share the small sleeping room. When we received the good news that we would be getting monthly support from GiveDirectly, I felt happy because I knew that I would finally achieve the dream of owning a bigger house. I have since then been purchasing pieces of iron sheets whenever I receive my transfers, and I am glad I have bought enough pieces that we shall use to construct a three room mud wall house.

Through GiveDirectly I have managed to even consider and begin the process of starting to invest in building a new house. I honestly feel quite empowered because were it not for the transfers my husband would have probably taken care of this project all by himself which would have been overwhelming. But now through the funds I receive I can chip in as well with the finances which makes me happy.

As soon as I received the money I decided that I would go ahead and purchase iron sheets. This is because I want to build a new house for myself while I plan on leaving the house I live in at the moment for sons. They are growing up and I think giving them there own privacy and space would be great. I could not even think of building a new house before getting enrolled to GiveDirectly because it would be too expensive for me. So I ended up using the entire funds I received which was KES 3,000 to buy three pieces of iron sheets.

I woke up to the transfers message and I I jumped with joy because the previous night, we had porridge for supper and we didn't have anything for breakfast. I immediately rushed to mother In-law's house where I told her about the good news because she's illiterate and wouldn't have realized she had received the transfers by her own. Later in the afternoon I went to the market and bought food which my family enjoyed to their satisfaction.

Previously, my children were walking around with torn clothes which made them stay indoors as they had become the laughing stock in the village. Now that I bought them some clothes, they comfortably get out the house as play with other children.

I operate a local food kiosk while my husband is a watchman, our monthly income is approximately KES 5000. With high standards of living due to economic hardships prevailing in my country, it has been a real struggle to provide for our four children and pay school fees. The major priority has always been food whereby we can only afford to provide two meals a day. With school fees being the second priority, we hardly buy our children clothes and the two pairs which they had were torn due to regular washing. I spend KES 1000 to buy them second hand clothes and I'm happy that they are comfortable around other children as they are nolonger the laughing stock. I spend the balance of KES 170 to buy a packet of maize floor and some groceries which we prepared for supper that day.