GiveDirectly has managed to give us an opportunity where we can grow economically and elevate ourselves from the position of complete poverty. I am grateful because I see the changes so far, and not just only in me but also from my colleagues here in the village and notice the great transition this funds have brought. Kids are going to school and people are not starving anymore. We are thankful for this opportunity.

After receiving the money I consulted two of my relatives and suggested that we start a savings committee where we contributed money and distributed it monthly to a particular person so as we would have a larger amount of cash compared to the one we had and could invest it in individual projects that needed large sums of money. Fortunately they were down for it and I was the first person to receive the money that month so I contributed KES 2,000 on the money I had and plus what I got from the others I received KES 6,000 in total. My initial plan was to renovate my house with money but due to drought, water has been a predicament and so I decided to put the money away until the rainy seasons come or when I have enough money to buy water in order to finance the project. I was left with about KES 1,000 from the funds received from GiveDirectly so I took KES 300 and bought a chicken, then used KES 300 and paid tuition fee for my grandchild who was in kindergarten since at the time the parents had no finances. I was left with about KES 400 where I used KES 300 and bought maize flour and sugar then the balance KES 100 I took it as offering to church .

I received the text message at around 10 in the morning. I was in my house resting because I was not feeling well. Since I do not know how to read I asked my nephew to come read it out for me. He explained that I had received some money. I was very happy. I did not have money at that time and I knew the money was going to help me.

Yes, the money has made a big difference in my life. I was able to seek medication at a time when I had no money left. With the money, I was able to clear my son’s school fees. He was able to continue with his education without any problems.

The past two years have been very difficult and extremely dark years for me. I lost my beloved husband. He was the only breadwinner in my family at that time. Luckily up to his time of death my eldest son had already finished his university education. He was able to get a good job immediately after he graduated from school as a doctor. That is when he became the breadwinner of the family. My son took the responsibility of educating his younger sibling in college. One year later I also happen to lose my eldest son and the only breadwinner of the family. He died after suffering a short illness. My youngest son who was in college at that time had to drop out of school due to a lack of school fees. I do not have a well-paying job and the little I earned from doing casual jobs was not enough to raise the required amount of fees for him to continue with his education. He had to drop out of school.I started burning woods and making charcoal for sale. I was able to save some money to get my son back to school. So when I received the first transfer from giving directly I was very happy that I will get the financial push that I have been longing for. I spent KSH 500 to clear some school fees for my son who is still in college. In addition, I spent KSH 500 to buy medicine. At the time I received the money I was not feeling well and went ahead to buy over-the-counter drugs to better my health condition. I also tithed the remaining KSH 200 in church.