Through the funds I receive from GiveDirectly I have regained my independence ever since the passing of my husband because I relied on my children most of the time, because my age will not allow me even to work. Therefore I am grateful of this chance because now I too can provide and cater for my needs and even assist my family as well.

With my first transfers I used a portion of it to get some food and then gave my grandson KES 350 in order to pay for his school fees since he had been kicked out school during that time and his father had no money to send him back so I decided to help. Now when it comes to my recent transfers I used KES 1,000 and gave it to my grandson, who went ahead and bought dried palm tree leaves popularly known as Makuti, so as to finish the roofing of his house because the house was done but he could not afford to finish what was left which was the roof. I was left with about KES 2,000, where I used KES 1,000 and bought eight packets of maize flour because I had no food in my house and then used the remaining KES 1,000 and bought one big duck that I planned to rear.

I am a widow. I struggle to maintain my welfare. I have a son who supports me. He is a family man. He has seven children. With me also still depending on him, my son has a very huge burden of responsibility. I was very happy when I received the money. It meant self-reliance to me. It was more of a relief to me because I could no longer be dependant on my son.

I used to depend on my son to a greater extent. He used to provide food for me. The story has now changed, I can comfortably buy myself food that can last me a month.

I have a grandchild who is in secondary school. His parents struggle to pay the school fees. His father works in the motorcycle taxi business. The money he gets only supports the family in buying food. This leaves him with very little to support his son's education. I paid part of the school fees for my grandchild using the money I received.