I plan to have an investment. After doing some research, I settled on starting a grocery store because vegetables are scarce in our village. To achieve this goal, I am planning to borrow some money from a small financial institution where I had been saving some money from my charcoal-burning business. This loan aims to start my garden where I will be planting vegetables for sale. I concluded this after realizing that selling a commodity that you grow is more profitable than buying from a supply for sale.

GiveDirectly did a well-thought agenda of giving cash to the locals. By doing so, it allowed the people to choose what they thought the cash would help them to improve their lives. I am not against any of the plans of the organization, I support them fully. Although I have a recommendation, if possible I request the cash program to be carried out three times instead of the two transfers.

When I received the second transfer, I first bought a bed and a mattress for $200. I opted for this because the bed I had was very small and could not accommodate me with my two grandchildren who I used to sleep with. This allowed me to be sleeping with the girl grandchild and gave the small bed to the male grandchild. I stay with them because they are from a single mother who went to town to fend for them. Thereafter, I bought a solar panel for $90. I did this so that I could have some light at my home. Initially, I used to make a huge fire for us as a family to get some light at night. As of now, my home has a good lighting system courtesy of GiveDirectly. After that, I bought a sack of maize for $70 to ensure there is food security at home. Using the remaining amount of money I renovated my house by constructing some pillars to make it firm since the poles were destroyed by termites. I am happy that I nowadays sleep well and comfortably unlike before.

I can still recall vividly it was around 6 in the morning when I heard my phone ringing and alert of a new message. Since I couldn't read, I asked my son to confirm for me who could have sent the message at such an hour. Upon reading the contents, he realized that it was an Mpesa message which was from Segovia Technology. Due to that excitement that I had, I honestly couldn't even continue with the house chores. This would remain to be a memorable day in our lives.

The fact that I was able to renovate my house has brought the biggest difference in my daily life. It has always been my wish to renovate it but because of the financial hardships, I couldn't afford to purchase the materials needed. My spouse and I have been jobless for a long and we have been depending on my elder son for our daily bread. He used to rely on causal jobs and at times he could fail to bring the food to the table. This also means it would take years for us to renovate the house. During the winter seasons, we were facing lots of challenges, especially the constant attacks by cold-related insects diseases. I am happy that all these problems have finally come to an end. I will no longer have to worry about our safety and the harsh climates.

I spent KES 15000 of my first transfer on buying bedding which includes a bed and a mattress. Initially, I used to sleep on the traditional beds with lots of pain since they were made of ropes. In addition to that, I bought bricks, cement, and sand at a total of KES 11000. I had intended to construct a new pit latrine and renovate my house since it had unstable walls. I was so worried that during the rainy seasons it would collapse. In addition to that, I saved KES 5000 into my account which will be for any emergency that might occur. Finally, with the remaining part of the money, I have been buying foodstuff for my nine family members. I am happy that we no longer skip meals as we used to do.