I greatly appreciate GiveDirectly for the financial help that I received because it uplifted my living standard. Before receiving the transfers, I was staying on a piece of land that was not mine. My life is currently different because through the transfers, I acquired my own piece of land to build and do farming. I paid for it in full and now I own it as an asset. Apart from this, I also managed to build a house for my children. They are out of age and I could not accommodate them in my living house. It was not spacious enough hence they had to seek shelter from neighbours at night. I am now at peace seeing them having their own house to stay.

During enrolment, I did not have a phone of my own. It would have been expensive for me to buy one at my own cost. Through GiveDirectly, I was given a new phone for the purposes of receiving the transfers. Thereafter, the transfers were sent to my phone and I had the freedom to spend and I could easily withdraw it. Giving us the phones and the transfers unconditionally in my opinion is what GiveDirectly does well. So far, I do not see anything that GiveDirectly does not do well.

I spent part of my second transfer on building a house for my children. My living house was not spacious enough to accommodate them . This forced them to seek shelter from neighbours at night. Thus I purchased 20 pieces of iron sheets, building poles and nails to facilitate this. I also paid for the labour cost involved. In addition to this, I also managed to clear the cost of a piece of land that I had acquired through my first transfer. I paid KES 11000 to the clear the debt. I am now free to build a home and also do farming on this piece of land during the planting season. I spent the remaining amount to buy some foodstuffs and other household items that I lacked.

I was heading to my farm early in the morning when I decided to check messages on my phone. As I read them one by one, I realized there was a Mpesa message. On checking who the sender was, I realised I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly as promised. I remember going back to my house, I could not hold the happiness that I felt after seeing this.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am now owning goats through the transfer. Being a farmer, I invested on rearing these goats because they are valuable assets and a saving for future financial needs. As they reproduce and increase in number, I can readily rely on them in case of a financial need.

I spent a larger portion of my first transfer on buying goats that I am currently keeping in my homestead. These are assets that will help me to meet my future financial needs. I will sell the offsprings to raise fees for my children who are still in lower levels of education. In addition to this, I also spent KES 5000 to buy a solar panel for lighting my household. My children can comfortably study unlike when they were using kerosene lamps. Lastly, I spent the remaining amount on buying some foodstuffs and paying for other household expenses.