I joined a savings committee earlier this year so that eventually I would have enough money to start a business where I sold clothes so that to make extra money and provide for me and my family. So when I received the funds from GiveDirectly I went ahead and contributed KES 1,000 to the savings committee like I normally did monthly. Then I used KES 1,350 from the balance that had remained to buy a bag of maize flour which had twelve packets. I was left with KES 650 where I used KES 250 to pay the transportation fee used in going to fetch drinking water since we experienced scarcity and the only place where we could get the water from was quite a distance of around six hours to and fro if I decided to walk, which I did most times when I had no money. The rest of the money I used it in buying sardines, beans and sugar.

For several years, I had been longing to do a poultry project although I did not have adequate capital to start up such project. When I received my transfer, I opted to start it with the cash available bearing in mind that all big ventures start small. I intend to raise layers from which I shall be getting eggs for sales. The eggs business is very profitable in hence I shall always be having steady source of income.

Give directly has empowered us to step up from poverty. This is because with the unconditional cash transfer we can think of ways to enable us to generate an income from buying livestock to starting businesses. I do not see anywhere they are wrong.

My children have been home for most of this year as they have been chased out of school due to school fees being uncleared. They are a priority to me so that as soon as I received this money I paid KES.600 for my three children. I would like to start a new business also for buying and selling chickens, so I set aside KES.500 for my business. Since we are experiencing a drought I had to put more money on food and water as I have to buy food for long distances. Thanks to this program my family is living comfortably.

This day I was worried that my children had stayed a week from school and I was seated worrying about this. I left with a heavy heart to go take my cows to graze. Something told me to check my phone which I did and I saw that I had received the money. I felt so relieved that I returned home. I was so overwhelmed with joy that my children could go back to school.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that my children were able to go back to school after they had stayed home duet I school fees for a week. I have not had to borrow and scavenge for the fees this time around unlike the other times. My family has also had the privilege to have breakfast before they leave for school and work. This has not been possible since the start of the drought. I am glad that Give directly chose my village for this program.

During this first transfer, I was able to pay school fees worth KES.300 for my three children who had been sent home due to a fee balance. I was also able to buy food costing KES.900 which would last us a few weeks. My children having a full stomach before going to school has been a miracle during these tough times. This year due to the drought we have not been able to plant any crops so finding food has been tough and expensive. There have been times that we ran out of food. Even since we got this money we had no food for almost 5 -7 days. I know with the other coming transfers I can plan for other things and provide for my family.