I have been surviving on menial jobs, including doing construction work for years to make a living and educating my two children in college. Their educational journey has not been easy, and at times I failed to raise their fees on time, causing them to stay home before I could pay. As a parent, my main goal has always been to ensure that my children achieve their educational goals. Receiving my first transfer of $200 brought me great relief, as I could pay for their tuition fees on time. They can now continue with their studies without any interruptions due to fees. I am no longer engaging in casual jobs, currently doing subsistence farming in the village and I am happy that the transfer has catered for my children's education. In addition to paying fees, I also acquired six goats and six chickens for $230, which I am currently keeping in my homestead. These are assets that I can sell to cater to my financial needs, such as paying fees for my children. I previously had some livestock, but I had to sell them to raise fees for my children. These new assets will allow me to breed and multiply them to sell or exchange them for a dairy cow. I also spent $30 on hiring a tractor since it was the planting season. I paid for the services to ensure timely land preparation and cultivation. My acreage was fully utilised, and I am hoping for a good harvest. The remaining amount was spent on buying foodstuffs for my family and some household items, such as utensils that were lacking.

I now own six goats and cleared fees for my children on time, which so far has made the biggest difference in my daily life. Before I received the support, I struggled to pay for my two children's college tuition fees. Before they joined college, I relied on menial jobs, such as working in construction, to make a living. Although my brothers helped with the tuition fees, their support was minimal since they also had their own families to support. Currently, I no longer engage in menial jobs and I am only doing subsistence farming in the village. I am at peace now because I managed to clear my children's fee arrears with the recent transfers and they are now comfortably continuing with their college education. My goal as a parent is to ensure that they achieve their educational goals without any interruptions in fees. I am also glad that I was able to purchase six goats, which I could not afford before. Previously, I had some goats, but when it was time to take my children to school, I sold them all to raise their fees. Now, I am keeping these goats and letting them multiply so that in the near future, I can sell them to meet my financial needs.

I was heading home after running some errands in the trading centre when I received some messages on my phone. At first, I thought they were just the usual promotional messages from Safaricom and did not bother checking the contents. I was not expecting to receive any money from anyone, so I did not keep checking my messages. Once I got home, I overheard some neighbours talking about receiving transfers from GiveDirectly. That's when I remembered that I had received some messages too. I thought they might also be about the transfers, so I called my helper to check and she confirmed that I had indeed received my first transfer. I was overwhelmed with joy as I thought about all the things I had been unable to do because of financial constraints. With this transfer, I could now fulfil those dreams, including paying for my children's school fees.