My new goal is to buy a water tank and more chairs. I would like to buy the tank because in our place we at times experience a prolonged dry season and the rivers are very far. I do not have a donkey to help me carry the water from the river and hence I have to be the one doing the work. With the water tank, I will be able to collect rainwater that I can use even during the dry season. I would also like to buy the chairs because the ones that we have are not enough. Whenever guests come visiting, I have to borrow some chairs from the neighbor. The chairs will thus enable us to have somewhere that we can comfortably sit with the guests.

GiveDirectly staff taught us well in the meeting that they held with the community members before starting the enrollment process. We got to learn more about the program. I do not see anything that went wrong and hence I would like to urge them to keep up the good work.

I spent KES 25000 of my recent transfer on buying a cow. I bought the cow because it is a form of saving money and also because it is going to help me in the future when it calves. I can sell the calf or milk so that I can get money for paying school fees for my four children. I also used KES 4500 on paying school fees. I managed to clear the school fees arrears and hence my children were able to study well without worrying about being sent home due to the balances. Other than that, I used KES 7000 on paying back a debt. I had taken some foodstuffs on credit and I had not managed to pay them back. I am glad that with the transfer I was able to do so and hence I no longer have stress about owing someone some money. With the remaining amount of money, I used it on buying food, some clothes for the children, a chair, some household utensils, and a water container. I would not have been able to do the above because I did not have the money. My husband and I usually engage in doing casual work to earn a living. Our place of work is very far, one has to wake at 4 am and leave at 5 am so that you can start work at 8 am. We leave at 4 pm and get home at 8 pm. The money that we get paid most of it usually goes to school fee payment for the children and hence we have not managed to make other developments. We also usually practice small-scale subsistence maize farming. I am hence so much grateful to GiveDirectly for their big support.

I was at home busy preparing myself to go to school with my child who had the day before been sent home due to school fees arrears. I suddenly heard some people celebrating in the neighborhood and mentioning GiveDirectly. I asked my child to switch on my phone that I had left charging. He did so and as soon as he had switched on the phone than the SMS came in and he informed me about it. We were so happy because we were now going to be able to clear the school fees balance.

The transfer has brought a very big difference to our lives. We were able to construct another house that is roofed with iron sheets. I am thus able to collect rainwater just like my neighbors and I no longer have to go to the river when there are rains.

I spent the better part of the transfer in building another house. I had always wanted to build one but due to lack of money, I was not in a position to. My husband and I depend on casual jobs of farming to earn a living. The money that we get from these casual jobs most of it usually goes to the purchase of food. We have also joined small self-help groups and the money that we get from the merry-go-round contributions is what we use in paying school fees for our children. There is thus none that is left for doing developments such as constructing a house.