Despite the difficult burden of paying the school fees for my four children, I have faith that I will soon open a small business of selling various vegetables or second-hand clothes that will provide a steady source of income for my family. This will ensure that I am in a position to see my children through their education without any difficulties.

GiveDirectly did a great job in our village and even in other villages that it has been before ours. I am glad that they were open to everyone in explanation of the program details and knowledge conveyance right from the Baraza, in-house visits, registration calls, and even follow-up calls after the transfers. I was also impressed by the encouragement on wise spending as this was taken seriously as evidenced by the outcome. We were enrolled without bias giving residents a chance to drastically improve their living standards.

I am a seasonal farmer and so I depend a lot on the vegetables that I grow to be able to get food for my family. In the past couple of months, it has not been raining and so we had been greatly affected by the drought and also the lack of water. My four children and I had been going without food for days on. We had run out of food, thus I spent $50 on buying enough food for my family ensuring that we do not go to sleep hungry. The house that we were staying in was dilapidated and I was afraid that it might crumble down anytime soon leaving us homeless. I spent $230 on buying building materials. I also bought a bed and one mattress worth $150 to replace the torn ones that we had been sleeping on for the last five years. As we all know that education is the best gift to give to your children, I paid their school fees arrears of $100 to ensure that they remain in school all through. All this was made possible by GiveDirectly’s generosity.

It was around 10 am I was at my house with my relatives chatting. I heard a message alert on my phone upon checking, I discovered that I had received my transfer. I felt very happy for receiving the transfer that I was eagerly awaited to change my life for the better.

The biggest difference in my life is that I am empowered after starting my own business with help of my transfer. Previously, I was jobless and fully dependent on my husband to raise our family. I had wished to start a small business so that I will help him in raising our family but I lacked capital. I thank GiveDirectly for the aid.

I spent KES 24,000 to support my husband in pay part of the motorbike loan that he had bought on hire purchase sometime back. He is using it in the taxi business a job that has been sustaining our family. I also used KES 10,000 to start a small boutique business in the house currently I am earning a living that supplements my spouse's earnings. I also KES 13,500 to purchase proper beddings for my family previously we were using small and worn-out beddings which were not enough for my family. In addition, I spent KES 5,000 to clear part of the solar light system debt. I used the remaining amount to support my kid's educational needs.