I currently do not have a job and depend fully on my husband, who is the sole breadwinner of the family. I previously worked on other people’s farms to earn a living. Since the commencement of the drought, it has been very difficult for me to get such a job. My husband too was among victims of the corona pandemic as he lost his job. Since then, he is working on manual jobs in construction, lifting bulky goods for pay and also as a Matatu conductor just to earn a living and support his family. The jobs he does are subject to availability, meaning he does not work daily. With the earnings he gets from the jobs, we can afford one meal a day. This has made it very challenging to even pay school fees for our children. Upon receiving my fifth transfer, I spent KSH 900 to pay off a debt for my three children for them to go back and continue with their studies and sit for their exams. Besides paying school fees, I spent KSH 1500 to pay for medical expenses for my youngest child who was unwell. I then spent the remaining KSH 1000 in buying two chickens. I have always wanted to rear chicken, and this proved to be the right opportunity to do so.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well by ensuring we get proper education on how best we can use the money once we receive the transfer. This has opened our eyes and prompted us to think even harder on a useful project to invest the money in so that we can uplift our lives from these jaws of poverty

The drought situation has made it hard for one to get water for use at home. I spent a total of KSH 200 purchasing water. I also have three children who are currently in primary school. They had been sent home to pick school fee balances. I decided to share KSH 300 with each so that they could go back to school and continue with their education. In addition to paying school fees, I spent KSH 1100 buying maize flour. Since I do not have a job, I decided to buy the maize flour so that my family does not miss food. I have a small child who before receiving the transfer developed some health problems. I took her medication to the public hospital but was not able to get better treatment. This forced me to look for a better private hospital so that she could be treated. This in turn ended with me paying KSH 800 for the bill.

I received the text message that I had received money from Give Directly at around 8 am in the morning. I was just from fetching water and was resting. I received the text message and after looking into it when I confirmed that I had received the cash. I was very happy and throughout the day I became very active and very lively.

The money has made a difference in my life. My children are back in school. They had been severally sent home on many occasions and I went back to school and promised to pay and at times did not honor the promise. So the money helped me clear the debt I owed and I am now at peace that children will continue to learn without any problems. I am also grateful that finally, I was able to fulfill one of the longest dreams that I have ever had.

I have always had a dream to own both poultry and livestock in my home. Due to financial challenges, I have not been able to afford to buy any of those. So when I received money from GiveDirectly I saw this as the perfect opportunity for me to be able to fulfill my dreams of owning poultry. I spent KSH 350 on buying some two chicks. I have what it takes to take of them and once the number multiplies I will sell them and buy goats. I also spent KSH 300 on my school children. The money was to cater for their exam fees. I also spent KSH 500 on buying food for my family. The food stocks I was having in the house were running out and I wanted to add more food before it ran out.