I started my tailoring shop about a year ago. When the second GiveDirectly transfers came, I spent KES10,000 on the addition of my tailoring stock. I, therefore, intend to buy my piece of land from the daily income. This is because I am still living in my father's land and have always wanted to have my own.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly barazas are very informative and each household in our village was enrolled.

Before GiveDirectly came, I used to live in a tiny grass-thatched house that could only accommodate my family. Due to this, for the past year, I desired to build a more spacious house but could not afford it. But when the second GiveDirectly transfers, I spent KES 35000 on building a more spacious one-roomed Iron roofed and mud-walled house. I also spent KES 6000 on a bed and two mattresses. This is because initially, I had only one mattress and this could only accommodate my family alone hence no sleeping place for visitors. I also spent KES 5000 on utensils and large water storage containers. This is because I had only a few household utensils just enough to serve my and water containers which couldn't store lots of water at a time. In terms of food, I spent KES10,000 on a bag of rice, a bag of maize, a bag of beans, and sugar. This will not only ensure the adequacy of food but also reduce household expenditures. The remaining KES 10,000 I used in addition to my tailoring stock. This is because the business is still young as I just started a year ago.

I was at home tending to the animals when I heard my phone ringing, upon checking I saw a Mpesa notification showing that I had received money from GiveDirectly, words cannot express how happy I was, I thanked God for the wonderful gift that came my way that morning because I knew that with the cash at hand I would be able to build a house for my family.

The biggest difference in my daily life now is that I managed to build a decent house for my family with my transfer, unlike before where I used to live in a grass-thatched house that was small and stuffy due to financial constraints. In addition to that, I was able to stock adequate foodstuffs that would last for a while, this would mean that my kids would not go to bed on their empty stomachs. GiveDirectly allowed us to change our lives for the better and we are grateful for that.

Building a house has been a mission that I have been chasing for a long time, though I have been unable to realize it due to financial constraints. I am a local tailor and a mother of three children, I don't make much from my business because it is a seasonal thing. Therefore when I received my transfer I used KES 30,000 in constructing a new decent house for my family, then used the remaining part of the transfer in buying foodstuffs and clothes. I am so grateful that the transfer brought hope to our lives.