Currently, my life is different from how it was in that, I am my own boss. I have a decent reliable source of income. Previously, I used to wash people's clothes and this work came with a lot of challenges, for instance, we could agree on the amount of money to be paid but when I was done with the work, I could sometimes be given less money. This made me end up quarreling with my clients which was not fun at all. This kind of work was also not reliable. I thank Give Directly for enabling me to have a decent source of income.

I do not have a new goal at the moment. I am still in the process of boosting my business. Once it has become stable and fully established, this is when I can think of pursuing another goal. For now, I feel that I might lose the business which I already started and waste the transfers If I start fumbling and opening businesses anyhow.

I spent a larger portion of my transfer on purchasing a fridge. I have always wanted to buy it so that it helps me in preserving food. We usually cook a lot of food that can last for a whole week because it is cheaper that way. Apart from that, I also managed to boost my business which I had started using the first transfer. I had been washing people's clothes in a neighborhood called Eastleigh and the income was not enough. This forced me to depend on my husband most of the time and I always felt like a burden. I am glad that nowadays I am able to take care of most of the expenses for my family. In addition to that, I also sent my mother some money which she used for her treatment. I am happy I didn't fail her as her firstborn because, with the old age, I have been the one who has been taking care of her financial needs.

My life is currently different in that, I do not have to spend my days sitting on the ground at specific points in Eastleigh estate, waiting for potential clients to reach out to me for any available casual jobs, I now have my own business which earns me an income that can support my family and provide our needs.

My new goal is to own my own house whereby I will no longer have to pay rent. I hope to buy and own a house here in Mathare, so I never have to pay rent again.

I spent my most recent transfer to expand my business. I sell rice together with a cultural Kenyan scarf known as "Leso" in Mathare and also the neighboring outskirts of Mathare such as Eastleigh, Pangani, Ngara, and Huruma. I also sell these items in the Central Business District at times. I do not sell my items from a centralized location such as a shop, I normally hawk these items. I invested my transfers in a new business because I wanted to be self-employed and I also wanted a more reliable means of earning some income. I used to do casual laundry jobs in Eastleigh estate, where I would meet fellow women at a spot in Eastleigh estate that we used to sit and wait for potential clients to reach out to us. There are days when these jobs were easily available and some days the jobs were not there at all. On such days then you go home empty-handed. I am happy to be self-employed at a better place now as I have a more reliable source of income than I used to have.

Selling just rice is not enough, therefore, I will use my next transfer to rent a stall and bring in other cereals such maize, beans, green grams, millet, sorghum and any other that will be on demand. I will also find a way of making home deliveries to retain my customers now that I will no longer be moving from house to house.

Ever since I started a business with the money I received, there has been a lot of peace in my household since I no longer have constant quarrels with my husband over money for food and other household requirements. I now make enough money to purchase most of these items on my own therefore don't have to depend on him. I previously relied on domestic jobs which were unreliable and I would most often come back home empty-handed. On such days, I would wait for my husband to come back home before we could buy any food as we waited for him to provide the money. This mostly angered him and caused the quarrells.

I started a rice-hawking business with part of the money that I received. I have always heard my neighbours complaining that the quality of rice they get from the shops is very poor as compared to the amount they are charged for it. I decided to fill that gap by delivering quality aromatic rice to their doorstep at a fair price and so far, the returns are worthwhile. I used the rest of the money to pay my rent and purchase foodstuff.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received the money because I did not expect it to come so soon. I don't remember being told the exact date it would be sent, therefore, I didn't have it in mind. I decided to buy my children a proper meal for that day as I also took a break from my daily hustles to have time to make plans on how to spend the money.I did this because I knew I could not fully concentrate on anything that day as all my mind was on the cash.