Yes, definitely, the new goal that I have at the moment is to purchase more building materials and start the construction of a permanent two-roomed house for the family. Currently, we are residing in a small, mud-walled, one-roomed house, this is not enough to accommodate our family of 3 children. Furthermore, I am sharing the same room with my 3 daughters of age between 10 and 5 years something that is against our customs. I always felt ashamed for failing to provide proper shelter for the family as a father. Achieving this will restore the dignity that I had lost for many years.

In my opinion, Givedirectly did well in enrolling every household in the community in the program without any discrimination. Furthermore, supporting poor households with unconditional cash transfers allows them to change their lives based on their preferences. I think it will be good if the organization will have an office closer to the villages for easy accessibility for any assistance since most areas have poor network coverage for making calls.

I spent $150 of the most recent transfer to acquire 10 tons of building stones. This was for the construction of a permanent two-roomed house for the family of 5 members and including my wife and me. This house that we own at the moment is a small, one-roomed mud-walled house which can not accommodate us with our household items. Moreover, I used $70 to pay part of the school fees for my 3 daughters who are in a private school. They had a huge fee balance that was making them be sent home regularly something that ate away my happiness. Also, I used $60 to get the required documents for the EMT(emergency medical technician) and first aid course that I had done earlier but I was yet to do the suitability test to get the required certificates. With the remaining amount, I bought water pipes to connect tap water to the household. This was to assist my wife who used to fetch water at a long distance something that made her complain of body pain every time.

I can vividly recall that the moment I received my transfer, I was on my way home from my workplace. Then suddenly, I heard my phone ringing and on checking what the message was all about I realised that I had received money from GiveDirectly. I was overwhelmed with happiness knowing that I would be able to accomplish my goals. On reaching home, I broke the good news to my equally happy wife. And finally, since we had planned earlier on how we would spend our money we embarked on realising them. This was the best thing that had happened to me and I am so grateful for the great opportunity that gave me an opportunity for me to uplift my life.

The biggest difference in my daily life today is that I was able to acquire new professional skills with the transfer that I got. With it, I am hopeful that I would be able to look for a more reliable job or any of the government jobs since I have a certificate now. Secondly, we have plenty of water for our daily consumption thus, saving time that we used to waste in looking for it. The organization has lifted my life positively and also empowered me financially and I am forever grateful.

The major challenge we have been facing daily was fetching water from a far distance. This was cumbersome, especially for my mother who is old. Upon the receipt of our initial transfer, my wife and I opted to use our transfer on connecting tap water directly to our home. I knew that with it we will be able to save both time and energy. Therefore I used KES 17,000 on the same. Secondly, I paid KES 7000 for my children's school fees. I am a masonry, married and blessed with three children. I also opted to use KES 6000 on taking a short course which was relevant to my work. Lastly, I used the remaining amount on clothes and foodstuffs. I am more than happy that I was able to accomplish a lot with the transfer that I received from GiveDirectly.