This year, my goal was to upgrade my farming methods from traditional to modern so that I can get a good harvest. I want to work as casual and save towards buying farm inputs. Achieving this goal means so much for my family as I will be able to give them better quality life.

What I liked about GiveDirectly is their dedicated staff who are very respectful and commitment to what they do. I didn't not notice an improvement area but I urge you to continue doing great work that you always do.

My family of seven ( my wife and six children) lived in a dilapidated grass thatched and mud walled house before I built this decent house after I received my second transfer. Although I have always wanted to build a decent house for my family, I did not have the financial capability to do so. I am a peasant farmer and I have always depended on my dairy cow for income. With this cows only giving us nine litres of milk per day where one goes for $0.45, this money has only been enough for basic needs and school fees for my six children. I spend $300 of my second transfer to build a semi permanent mud walled two bedroom house and put up a iron sheets roof. I also spend $150 to buy a dairy calf and the balance to buy farm inputs such as fertilizer. My family is happy that we have a decent house and no longer the laughing stock in the village.

I had slept till late that morning when I received the message from GiveDirectly notifying me that I had received the first transfer I had been expecting. I was not feeling well then and had to inform my husband who had to step in and withdraw the money from the nearby shopping center as I could not move out that day. I was so excited, and even though I was not feeling well, my energy was rejuvenated by the arrival of that money. I managed to be up the next morning, and with my husband, we managed to source some of the building materials for the construction of our new house.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the hope of seeing new construction in my household soon. Having assembled all the construction materials, I will soon be putting up a new structure that will give room for my two grown daughters who had been moving out to my neighbor's place every night. This will give them ample space to read after their evening meals, and can also give more room to accommodate visitors whenever they visit.

After receiving my first transfer, I spent the first KES 27500 on the construction of a new house. I had been living with my family of 8 in a single kitchen for a long time. I had been contemplating over a good savings plan but had never been possible. It has been so expensive to raise school fees to keep my six children currently in school. After obtaining all the construction materials meant for construction, I also paid KES 4200 school fees for my elder son in secondary school, obtained school uniforms for all my five children in primary school worth KES10000 since they had been wearing old and tattered ones over the past months. I also spent KES4000 on buying and transporting the new piece of furniture home to substitute the old benches that I had been using. I am glad everything I had planned for is currently in place.