No, the only goal that I had been longing to accomplish in my life was to own a stable business. I am so grateful I was able to achieve this. I managed to start a charcoal business which is very lucrative. I have been depending on some casual jobs with low incomes and this affected my household since I was not able to pay the bills on time. I am glad that for now, everything is running courtesy of GiveDirectly.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does a great job and this is evident in every household in my village. First, the fact that no one was left out provided that he or she was a resident of that particular region stood out. Also, everyone was allowed to purchase what he or she needs because every family has its own needs.

I spent part of my second transfer on purchasing several building materials such as bags of cement, sand, and the labor charge at a total of KES 40000. This was for the completion of the construction of a business store which I had earlier started and got stuck on the way. With the remaining amount of money, I paid school fees of KES 2000 for my two children who are in primary schools. Later on, I cleared the hospital bill for my son who has been ailing for quite some time. With the remaining amount of money, I purchased decent clothing and sufficient foodstuffs for my family. Since I'm jobless with a family of six it has been tough especially providing for our daily meals. I am so grateful that we no longer skip meals.

It was around 8am when I was conversing with my family members as we wait for breakfast, when I heard a message in my phone. I requested a child who was around to read the message for me and before she reads it, the other members whom we were conversing with also received their messages. All these messages were the same about the transfer from GiveDirectly. In unison, we ululated in happiness due to happiness.

Initially my life had no direction. No source of income to take care of my family and we were living in a sorrowful state. But after getting the assistance from GiveDirectly we are living like other human beings. The biggest difference I am yet to experience is the income generating project that I am doing that is operating the cafeteria. Currently I can’t say much on how it will generate but the fact that I own a business is already a bigger difference that I can attest.

My desire was to start a business so to have a constant income flow that will enable me to manage my family well. Since I had no bed, after withdrawing the money I bought a bed and a mattress for KES 5500.00 and KES 4500.00 respectively. I also did some foodstuff shopping for the family and set aside the remaining amount to start a cafeteria business.