I would want to see my children prosper in their education, and therefore my is to educate my children to a level that I could. I would ensure that part of every month’s transfer is sent to the school to clear any remaining balance. I would also want to buy livestock that would be of great help to me in the future in case of emergencies.

I have several children, some are in secondary school while others are in primary school, and getting money to cater for their needs had been a great challenge. Recently some of them were sent home for school, a situation that made the stay at home for some time. Luckily, I received the transfers from GiveDirectly that enabled me to settle part of the school fees and I managed to pay KES. 2000. With the remaining amount and considering the tough situation and the ongoing drought, I bought food worth KES. 1470. I was so happy and felt a great relief.

The transfer came at a time when I needed it the most. This is because I was admitted in hospital for 2 weeks due to an eye problem. I had huge medical bills to pay before being allowed to go home. I used the $30 I received from Givedirectly plus my personal saving to clear all the bills. At the moment, I am happy that I am feeling better and was allowed to go home courtesy of the transfers. Additionally, Having seven children that I got with my two wives who are still schooling, both in secondary and primary school. I used $30 to pay part of their fee arrears, making sure that they do not miss classes like before. I agreed with the teachers to be paying $20 part of the transfers which I am receiving every month.

As the family provider, I have always relied on making charcoal to earn a living. It takes nearly two weeks to cut tree stumps and heat them to produce charcoal, which delays my income. Even after waiting so long to sell, the most I can make in two weeks is KES 1,200. This amount is insufficient to purchase food and pay for the children's school fees. As a result, my five children are frequently absent from school due to unpaid fees, and the family runs out of food at least twice a week. This is why I spent KES 2,600 from the transfer to settle the outstanding school fee balances, and my children have been able to continue their studies uninterrupted. In addition, I acquired food with the remaining funds, which has lasted my family to this day.

The most important aspect that I have witnessed having impacted me mostly through GiveDirectly and the funds they offer, is that I have managed to keep my children in school and help them continue to get and education since were it not for the funds this would be a struggle like it has been in the past where my kids had to stay home for weeks before I could afford to send some of them to school, while the others waited until I got more money. I am grateful that now the situation is not as dire as it was before.

After I received my first transfers I used the most part of it to clear the debts I had in tuition fee and then used the rest to cater for food which was about KES 400. When it comes to the most recent transfers that I received, I did not deviate much in usage whe n it is in comparison to the first funds I received. Three days prior to receiving the money four of my children had been kicked out of school because I had a huge debt in school fees that I was yet to clear, so a day later after receiving the money I gave them KES 2,000 to pay for a portion of the pending debt in school fees. I was left with KES 1,000 where I used KES 500 and bought about four packets of maize flour and used the reaming balance to buy three chicks in order to begin poultry farming.

The day the money came I actually did not realise immediately that the money had arrived because I had taken my phone to the closest town for charging since I did not have electricity in my home. I saw the message at around 2 pm and I was very much excited because I was almost sure I would go to bed on an empty stomach that night since they was no meal in my home.

Honestly with my old age I can barely get work to even provide for myself and family at times but GiveDirectly has given me a slight chance to fend and provide for my family. My children managed to go back to school and were it not for the money I received they would have probably stayed home for the longest time possible so I am grateful.

I had been going through some financial difficulties before receiving the funds which almost seems to be my norm since I barely have a job and I struggle to cater for my family. So when I received the money I decide to first take care of tuition fee for two of my kids since they had not attented school for three days now just because I had no money to clear the debt they had in school. I therefore gave them KES 500 to be split among them equally of which did not mean the debt was cleared but they could be allowed back to class for the mean time. As for what was remaining I went ahead and bought five packets of maize flour so that I could manage to feed my family and myself because we completely had nothing in the house. It cost me around KES 625 and to that point my money was done.