I was coming from my farm after weeding my maize crops for the better part of the day. I received a message alert on my phone and because I was tired, I did not bother to check who the sender was. Upon reaching home, I heard my fellow villagers talking about money they had received from GiveDirectly. I remembered that I had not read the messages on my phone. When I finally read the contents, I could not hold back the happiness that I felt when I realised that I had received Ksh.55000 on my account. I thanked GiveDirectly for their generosity and for helping us financially.

The coming of GiveDirectly saved me from drowning in depression because I was going through hard times after losing my job. Initially, I was working as a watchman in a certain hotel and the monthly salary could sustain me and the family. Providing basic needs like food was not a challenge. However, I became diabetic and also suffered from Hypertension which made me leave the job. Since then, I have been doing menial jobs despite my poor health condition. I had to burn and sell charcoal for sale, though it doesn't pay well, I could not fend for all the basic needs. My family had to skip meals to save the small amount of food that I could manage to buy. I am grateful to GiveDirectly because through the financial support, I was able to do enough shopping for foodstuffs which could serve us for several weeks. My family could now enjoy three meals a day, which makes it to be the biggest difference in my daily life.

My living house was in a bad shape and its roof was leaking whenever it rains. I was not able to renovate it on time because I could not afford the required materials. This made the house to be weak and I was worried that It might fall on me one day. I am grateful to GiveDirectly because after receiving my first transfer, I went ahead and purchased 19 pieces of iron sheets and poles and rebuild the roof. I am no longer worried about the rains since my house is now stable enough to withstand the rains. Apart from this, I also did some shopping for food. I purchased enough maize that could take us some months. Before receiving the transfer, we could stay for some days without food which forced my family to skip meals. Burning and selling charcoal has been my main source of livelihood and it pays little. I was unable to adequately provide for my family until receiving the transfer. I also spent a portion of the transfer to pay for my daughter's tuition fee. She is currently enrolled in vocational training thus I cleared the fee balance so as to allow her to complete the course on time and do her examination.