A lot has been happening in my household in the last few months and I am glad that I can see a lot of achievements as well. The projects I had been running alongside the school fees payment, among them was the piece of land that is still on at the moment. I have not been able to think or plan to start any other new goal, but working hard to see that I clear the school fees for my children and also the remaining KES 40000 that I am yet to pay to become a legitimate owner of the land.

The greatest thing about GiveDirectly was the fact that everyone had to choose how to spend the received transfer. For the youth, some constructed new houses, while others started businesses, and many also invested in livestock, while for the parents; we saw a lot of input on school fees payment, obtaining enough foodstuff for their children, and also pieces of land for some who had small pieces. In my opinion, nothing went wrong throughout the whole process but everything started and ended just as was explained during enrollment.

I have a family of four living in a small piece of land that I had been hoping to widen by buying more in case any neighbor would wish to sell when I am fully equipped to buy as well. Just before receiving the first transfer, it was coincidental that one of the immediate neighbors needed to give out a piece since he needed money to fix some bills in his household. I could not pay it immediately but had to hold several talks and later came into an agreement that I will pay [part with the second transfer and keep paying him in bits till it is cleared. I am glad that I was able to honor this promise when I paid KES 40000 from the second transfer. I also paid part of the school fees for my two daughters currently in secondary school worth KES 9000, and also a sack of maize with the remaining amount that we used as a household foodstuff.

It was some few minutes past 9 am when my children came back home as they had been sent back to collect their fee arrears. I took my phone to see if I could request some people to lend me money and as I was trying to call one of my friends, I received an SMS and I decided to read it. To my surprise, it was a Mpesa message from GiveDirectly and seeing this made me so happy. I am grateful for the timely support that enabled my children to resume their studies on time without wasting much time at home.

It has always been my wish to own some assets like livestock since they increase in number with time and they're an investment that one can rely on in case of emergencies. I had not been able to achieve this due to the unpredictable source of income that we depend on as a family. Currently, I am now a proud owner of a dairy cow and it is an investment that will help me in educating my children. I will be using money from the sale of surplus to achieve this and my family is grateful to GiveDirectly for the support that has changed our lives.

I spent KES 7000 from my first transfer to pay school fees for my children who had been sent back home and I am glad that they were able to go back to school the same day they had been sent back. In addition, I used KES 10000 to purchase 12 pieces of iron sheets that I am planning to use in building a more spacious modern kitchen for my family, KES 31000 to buy a dairy cow and spent the remaining KES 6000 on food and clothes. I am happy that very soon, I will no longer be buying milk as I do now when my cow calves, rather, I will be able to save this money and it them on other basic needs.