I spent half of my transfer in buying food and water for my own home use. Because of the lack of rain in our area, we no longer get food directly from our farms. We have to buy food from the shops and at very high prices. Getting water for use at home has become a challenge. I have to walk for long distance of over 60 km to find water. Because of the tiresome journey of walking back and forth in search of water, I always opt to buy from the water vendors, but at very high prices. Besides buying food and water, I spent KSH 500 to clear some debts. Lack of a source of income made me to incur some debt which eventually I had to pay. I then spent the remaining amount of KSH 1000 in paying school fees arrears for my three children who were at home due to fee balances. I am happy that they went back to school, continued with their studies and did their exams too.

GiveDireclty does well in terms of helping the less fortunate in society. I am grateful that with the transfer we were able to give my father a befitting send-off. Were it not for the transfer then we would have faced lots of challenges.

A few days after receiving the transfer, it was so unfortunate that I did lose my father. That was a big blow to me because I was planning to take him to a good hospital so that he could get better medication. After his death, I was left with no choice but to use a portion of the money in the burial arrangement. I spent KSH 1700 plus my other savings on his burial preparations. Before his death, I had spent KSH 600 buying food for my family. The food stock in the house was almost getting finished. I paid a total of KSH 700 in school so that my children would not be sent home and continue with their education.

I was washing utensils outside my house when my brother-in-law handed me my phone and told me that I had received money from GiveDirectly. I confirmed it and it was true. I was very happy because I was struggling financially. I knelt and prayed and thanked God.

The biggest difference is that the cash has greatly helped me in clearing school fees for my children. With that, my kids can be able to continue with their education without any disturbance. My family can also be happy and enjoy the food I bought using the money.

If I talk of challenges I will not be able to finish everything now. Lately, I have been struggling financially. I am a casual laborer and finding jobs at the moment is like climbing a mountain. Finding jobs to earn a living is hard. The economic situation as of now is not favorable. I have 4 kids who are going to school. 2 of them had been sent home the previous day before receiving the money. My mind was not working well I was much stressed, thinking of where I will get funds to pay school fees. I am glad that when I received the money I spent KSH 600 in paying school fees. In addition, I spent the rest of the amount KSH 550 on food. My house was running out of food so I saw it wise to buy food for my family.