For the longest time now I've had a roof that is grass thatched. Almost everyone does back here in the village since they are less costly compared to iron sheets. The only predicament with this type of roofing is that it is always in need of repair constantly after it stays for sometime and starts to wither. Now as soon as I got enrolled to this program I thought it fit to be the right time to slowly begin to invest in buying iron sheets which were long lasting compared to the grass thatched roof. I used KES 2,000 and bought two segments of the iron sheets plus the ones I had bought previously which made them five. I had not yet began installing them because they were not enough, so I tried purchasing more with each transfer. I was left with around KES 1,000 which I ended up buying five packets of maize flour for KES 750 and used the balance to purchase water since it was very scarce in our area.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well in terms of helping the needy people in society. I can say that I have had a very tough year in terms of finances. I mostly depend on my farm and the drought has made it almost impossible to plant anything. This has left me with no choice but to only depend on my kids to provide for me. This at times has proved to be very hard when they don’t send me money. I am forced to sleep hungry and at times skip meals just to survive. With the transfer from GiveDirectly, it will give us a new lease of hope in our lives.

I received the transfer towards the start of the festive season. I have generally had a rough year in terms of my economic situation and my health. When I received the funds I spent KSH 2100 in buying foodstuffs that I will use to cook when the festive days arrive. I bought a bag of maize flour, a packet of wheat flour, some 4 kgs of rice, some cooking oil, and some tea leaves. I am very happy and grateful I was able to celebrate with my family members after struggling the better part of the year. I also spent the remaining amount of KSH 900 in buying one piece of iron sheet. The current condition of my house is not good. The roof is leaking and this is because it was made of Makuti. I want to buy several iron sheets with the other transfers. Once I have the required number of iron sheets I will then begin the process of rebuilding the roof of my house

I heard a beep on my phone early in the morning that day when I was on my way to fetch water but I did not bother much because I cannot read and I am not that good with working the phone since I am old. The moment I arrived home my daughter-in law informed she had already received her transfers and went ahead to check my phone. The ring earlier had actually been informing me of the arrival of the money and I was so happy because I could finally get something to eat.

This funds are helping me to be more sustainable since I am old and can barely work so during most situations and occasions I depended on my children who also have their own families to take care of which puts a strain on them financially. But now I am glad that I can also support myself financially and be less of a burden.

After I received the money the first thing I thought of was to purchase a meal for myself since I was a widow who had no job and at times going to bed hungry and spending the day almost the same way was norm to me. Therefore I went ahead and purchased five bags of maize four for KES 500, I also bought a kilogram of sugar for KES 100, sardines worth KES 400 since I had then almost on a daily basis and one kilogram of beans worth KES 120. I was sure this meals would take me a while until I had to worry again about food.