Upon being enrolled in GD program and being assured of the transfers, I developed a goal of buying a lactating cow. I had previously sold the only cow I had together with its calf due to the accumulation of my two children's school fee arears. This enabled me to offset their fee arrears then since I had no alternative source of income. As soon as this goal was accomplished, I came up with an additional plan of using part of my recent transfer to make an upfront school fee payment for the next two terms. This would give them an ample time to concentrate on their study.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well in improving communities living standard by giving unconditional cash transfer. Through the transfer, my family has made positive strides in terms of acquiring a cow as well as building a new house. For instance, whenever one takes a walk around, he/her can observe noticeable change within the community. Although this is a one off event, but I think that GiveDirectly can create more impact on the community by coming up with a continuous program rather than a one off program.

In the past, I had had some struggles to raise school fees for my two children who are currently in a primary academy school due to unreliable source of my income. As a result, I spent KES 25,000 from my second transfer to offset their school fee arrears of KES 8,000, and KES 17,000 on making upfront payment for the subsequent two terms' school fees. I have been having low income because I do not have any formal job. Paying their schools fees in advance will give them an ample time and conducive environment to learn thus they will register improvement on their performance. Once I settle their school fees, I shall be able to focus on how to raise money for acquiring their food and clothes.

It was a few minutes past 9 pm and I was still relaxing after a day's hard work when I received a message alert on my phone. I was with the all family since I was waiting for my children to be through with their revision so that I would escort them to the house where they usually sleep. I was overjoyed upon reading the Mpesa message and when I informed my family, they started singing happily. I agreed with them that I would not be cashing them out the following day as I would be busy and they understood despite wanting to celebrate by making a sumptuous meal.

I have four children in school and they were constantly out of school before receiving the transfer since catering for their school fees and basic needs on time has been a challenge to me. Because of this, I had seemed to be a liar before the teachers as I would promise that I would clear the fee arrears by a certain day and later fail to honor it due to financial constraints. With the transfer, I was able to clear their arrears and I am glad that they've been able to concentrate on their studies since they have never been sent back home. This is a big milestone that I have taken in life and I a grateful to GiveDirectly for making it possible.

I work as a herdsman to one of my neighbors and I earn KES 3500 per month. This being my only source of income and having 4 children at school and a family of 7 to feed, it was not enough. My sons being all grown had to sleep at my brother's house and they used to leave home early due to security reasons hence they had no time to study. It had always been my dream to build a house for them in our compound but this would only be a wish that I knew that I would never achieve due to my meager salary and a bunch of bills. Upon receiving my transfer, I spent KES 18000 from it to actualize my dream by building a house for them. Also, I spent KES 26000 to pay school fees for my two children in secondary school and two in primary level so that they would not be sent back home, and using the remaining KES 10000, I spent them on clothes and food.