When the givedirectly officers came to visit us and mentioned that we would receive money from givedirectly, I was so excited. My first thoughts went to getting a bigger house and buying a number of goats to keep. I received my first transfer and my goal was the same untill I saw the state of the bed my husband and I slept in, it became apparent at the time that that was an aspect of house I hadn't thought of but was quite important. Fetching water has also been a big challenge as you could never get enough water to run the house for even a day if you went to get water on foot. This was something that I really needed a solution to and I decided to buy a bicycle which my husband now uses to help us fetch water. I had also noticed that my family was having issues with the issue of my being married but them not having received any dowry for me. I felt that it strained our relationship and I knew it was something that needed to be sorted out.

Give directly giving me this transfers has changed my life in a big way. Now I am able to get water without spending so much for it and also in sufficient amounts within good time. I am also able to sleep in a much more comfortable bed. I have a much better relationship with my family as now my dowry is paid. I have also purchased the necessary material to put up a house as well as set apart money for the labour that will go into building. I have only Thanksgiving towards givedirectly and no complains.

I had a goal of acquiring a bicycle for moving around and fetching water for the home. I bought one worth 5000 shillings. This has made our water fetching experience quite good. My husband makes two trips a day to get water. On one trip the bicycle can comfortably carry 4 jerricans of water. We are able to have sufficient supply of water for two days if he successfully makes two trips a day. We also give the bicycle to out neighbours on the days we are not getting water for them to also get water. I bought a bigger and better bed for my husband and I at 10,000 shillings. I still worked on my house biulding role and bought 24 sheets of roofing sheets at 1000 shillings each, this totalled to 24,000 shillings. I took 4,400 shillings and bought posts and different prices based on size and length which would also go into house construction. I used the rest of my money from my first transfer on food. The second transfer came in handy in mending relationship that seemed that would be strained by paying for my dowry. My family had mentioned I would have to go back home as my husband had not paid them dowry yet. Now our association is much better. I also bought 5 kid goats at 15,000 shillings which I will use to sort my financial issues. I have also set aside the rest of the transfer for the construction work, paying for the labour. I am not sure how much it will cost and that is why I saved a huge amount since my husband who is current away is more conversant with this payments.

It was around 9 AM when I was on my way from the hospital when I saw a message notifications from my phone. I was so curious and I immediately had to check to confirm who might have sent a message at such an hour. Upon checking, I realized it was an Mpesa message confirming that I had received my first KES 55000 from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy because they had finally honored their promise to me. I had to rush home and share the splendid news with my spouse who had so been eagerly waiting to hear from GD.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am now sleeping in a decent place. Since I was married three years ago, I have been sleeping on the floor and I have been using old mats as my beddings. Life by then used to be very tough and stressful because I was always attacked by some jiggers and some other harmful insects. My spouse and daughter would get sick now and then as a result of this condition. We were always complaining of back pains because of the uncomfortable mats which have been affecting our health for all that time. In addition, I felt there was no privacy since we have been sharing the same mat. I am so glad that the coming of GiveDirectly has for sure changed our lives completely because we are sleeping comfortably and our health has now improved as well. I will forever be thankful to GiveDirectly because if it were not for them I would still be living a sorrowful life.

I spent part of my first transfer on buying a second-hand bicycle at KES 5000 which has been of great help to me because nowadays I no longer hire those of my friends when fetching water. The dams are far away from the village which has been so tiring carrying a jerrycan every day. To add to that, I also bought a high-density mattress at KES 5000 which was to replace the old mats that I have been using before. Later on, I settled a debt of KES 18500 and I am glad for now I have peace of mind because the owner has never been patient enough. With the remaining amount of money, I am using it to buy enough foodstuffs for the family and other household expenses