It was a normal day for me. I was on my farm harvesting maize with my wife and sister when, at around 3 p.m., I heard a message come in. Upon checking, I saw that I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly. I called my wife aside to share the news with her, and I could see the joy in her eyes. We knew that we could finally speed up our maize harvesting by hiring labor.

I am a crop farmer, and this year has not been lucky for me. I lost 1.5 acres of maize and an acre of melon, which was a great loss, but I didn’t give up. When the water receded, I replanted maize, and luckily, it did well. However, when it was ready for harvesting, I didn’t have the money, so my family and I were going to harvest it ourselves, which would have taken longer. With the rains, I was afraid I would lose it again. Thankfully, I received the GiveDirectly cash just in time, which helped me with the harvesting. I didn’t lose my maize for the second time. God bless you, GiveDirectly.

Our maize on an acre of land was ready for harvesting, but I did not have the money to cover the costs. I had planned to do the harvesting with my wife and sister, which would have taken longer, and with the rains, we risked losing the crop. When I received my first transfer from GiveDirectly, I decided to prioritize the harvest. I spent $89 on harvesting and transporting the maize to the joint drying area. Additionally, at the time, my brother, who is in college, needed $300 for his fees. My dad, who used to pay his fees, sadly passed away three years ago, and now the responsibility has fallen on us, his siblings. I contributed $60 toward his fees while my other siblings covered the rest. From the remaining money, I spent $20 on food—we had maize, but we lacked other essentials like beans, milk, and other essentials. I added $13 to the remaining $12 and bought watermelon seeds, waiting for water to start planting. I rely on crop farming to support my family.