It is a great feeling to know that I was able to build two new houses and purchase a lactating cow that has since provided enough milk for my family. I currently have a nineth-grade son whose school fees are proving difficult to pay. Since I was previously reliant on farming, I hope to increase the acreage under cultivation and ensure an increase in production that can be sold to pay my children's school fees.

The coordinated approach demonstrated by GiveDirectly in our village enabled the vast majority of beneficiaries to establish clear goals and collaborate with their relatives. We learnt the program details in the initial gatherings, which were led in a language understood by the residents. Since then we have been receiving a timely transfer in our accounts and spending them with no restrictions from GiveDirectly.    I believe a similar technique should be used in other areas that are still awaiting support from GiveDirectly.

After demolishing the old house that my family of six had been living in, I built a new one using the first transfer. With the growing family, the house was becoming too small. I spent $150 on labor charges and additional construction materials after receiving the second transfer because I already had the wood from the old house. The new, spacious kitchen is now completed, and I am pleased that it has provided an additional space for my daughters. I also spent $400 on a lactating cow, which saved me from spending money on milk, which is currently $2 per liter. Even though I am not receiving surplus produce, I believe that once it calves, I will be able to sell the surplus as a source of additional income. I am currently relying on casual jobs to pay household bills, as well as subsistence farming, which has been my family's primary source of income and food. I am grateful for GiveDirectly's support, and I hope to continue improving our living conditions through the current projects.

I felt so happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. My phone was off at the time that we received money and I heard my neighbours talking about the transfers and that they had received theirs in their phones. I grew anxious and hurriedly went for my phone. On switching on the phone I was met with a very pleasant surprise that I had received money too from GiveDirectly. I found myself sharing the good news with one of my relatives who was standing beside me at that particular time. Everyone in the village was equally very happy. I called my husband and shared the good news with him and we later reorganized ourselves on how best we were going to spend the money.

The biggest difference difference in my daily life is the newly built house that we now have. This house has brought a lot of joy and fulfilment in our lives as a family. It is a project that we have always yearned for but which we have never been able to accomplish due to shortage of funds. I thank God and GiveDirectly for taking away the she that we have lived with as a family for quite sometime now. Seeing my children take supper and thereafter go to their grandmother's place to sleep over was not so pleasing at all. I always looked forward to us building our own house but with the little income that we got we could not be able to accomplish this. Our children joining secondary school was also another financial muscle required and it means the dream of building a new house would have diminished even further. There are times that I would send my children to go sleep over their grandmother's house only fir them to come back and tell me the doors are locked and I would have to accompany them back. I feel so much relieved having been able to build this house to completion. It has also given me an opportunity to think about other things that I need to do going forward.

I used KES 30000 to build a new house for our family. For a long time, we had lived in a small grass thatched house and my family was growing throughout this time. I had four children and the situation got worse when they had to go sleep over their grandmother's house. There are times when they found the doors under lock and key and they would have to come back home in disperation. I would then accompany them back to request their grandmother to wake up and open the doors for my children to sleep. This was one of the lowest moments in my life and I felt so embarrassed as a parent. We had had the desire to put up a better house but the little income that we got from our subsistence farming was hardly enough to feed the family. I thank God that GiveDirectly has restored the dignity that we had long lost as parents and as a family too. We used another KES 15000 to pay school fees for one of our children who just joined form one as well and I cannot imagine how the situation would have been had I not received money from GiveDirectly. Perhaps we would have been left with no option but to sell the only livestock that we own to settle our child in school. The remaining amount of money was used to buy food and other basic household needs for the family. I do not know how better I can thank GiveDirectly for all that they have done to us.