I have two main goals; that is to construct my house in the village and to start a grocery business. But I'll prioritise the the grocery business first since I do not have enough money to start building my house. I want to start selling vegetables which I'll be getting from Samburu. I'll need a capital of $200 and since I do not have enough money right now, I'll just start small. I'll get money from my charcoal sales and buy half a crate of tomatoes, and vegetables. I want to start as soon as possible but the problem is lack of capital. start anytime the problem is lack of capital.

Give Directly are the biblical helpers. May you also help others the way you helped my village mates and I. When you are done helping others, please come back and help us again. The best thing you did is you ensured that everyone in the village received the money at almost the same time. This way people would not complain of unfairness. We have done a lot of development projects, people have built new houses and the village is all glitters with the new iron sheets, thanks to Give Directly. Everything you done is perfect, there is nothing at all to improve on.

"I used to work in Mombasa, but I moved back home after losing my job. My wife and I do not have a steady source of income. We work on our small piece of land every day, cutting firewood and burning charcoal for sale. I was extremely happy to receive this transfer because I knew I could do amazing things with it. Thank you to Give Directly for making this possible. I had planned to build rental houses because they would provide income for a longer period, even after I die. You know that investing in houses is a long-term investment; it cannot die like a cow, so I will be able to see my investment on a daily basis. So I spent $179 on 15 iron sheets, each at $12, $30 on three types of nails, $45 on seven bags of cement, and $125 on the labor force for the two rental houses. I am relieved that the houses are fully completed; all that remains is for tenants to occupy them so that I can begin earning money on a monthly basis. This way, I won't run out of money. I also intend to use the rental income to construct my own home in the village. I had also purchased some land but had not fully paid for it; I had a $100 balance, which I cleared with this transfer. Thank you to GiveDirectly for enabling me to build my houses on this land. Unfortunately, my uncle passed on, and I had to pay $35 in funeral expenses. I spent the remainder of the transfer on a bale of maize flour, a bucket of soap, and beans. Thank you so much for making the last few weeks so much easier."

I was having supper with my children when I heard a message alert on my phone. I quickly checked on the screen to view the sender and to my surprise, it was an mpesa message. I was really curious to know who could have sent me money at that hour. I was not expecting money from anyone. After finishing, I checked the contents to confirm receipt. I was greatly overjoyed when I realised that the money was from GiveDirectly. I had finally received my first transfer. I called them the next morning and thanked them for the transfer.

I have been longing to have an investment that could at least ensure I get a good income through it. I have been buying and supplying charcoal for all my years and currently, at my age, I can no longer engage myself in charcoal burning due to health issues. Since I have been doing this job for years, my aim was to start a small shop from which I will be buying and storing enough stock to supply. This will relieve me of the costs of renting other people's stalls. I am planning to also stock foodstuffs to sell alongside the charcoal. I believe through this business, I will be able to make enough profits and will be able to take care of my family's basic needs such as daily foodstuffs. To me, building this stall is the biggest difference in my daily life.

Its been my greatest desire to improve my living standard by having an investment that could ensure that providing food for my family was not a challenge. I have been relying on selling charcoal on a rented premise which was not paying well. Also, my health condition cannot currently allow me to engage in burning and selling charcoal. The money from the charcoal business could not fend for basic needs like food. I am planning to start a small shop on my own premise alongside buying and selling charcoal at a profit. I purchased some building materials which include 10 bags of cement, iron sheets, building poles and nails to construct the premise. I am planning to spend my next transfer on buying enough stock of products to sell. I believe once the shop business thrives, the profits will help me to adequately provide for my family. I also purchased a solar panel, bulbs and a solar battery to provide lighting on my stall. Lastly, I spent a small percentage of the transfer on buying foodstuffs which include a bag of maize that could serve us for some weeks. This ensured that food was adequate in my household unlike before when we were forced to skip meals because we lacked food.