My two children had completed their primary school late last year but they could not collect their certificates upon completion. They owed the school KES 10000. Being a single mother after separation from my spouse for the last ten years, I have been selling charcoal on a small scale to meet my family's needs which would barely meet all the needs. I tried all I could to reduce the arrears but my efforts proved futile. With the transfers from GiveDirectly, I have been able to clear the remaining balance. My children have been allowed to collect their certificates. To me, reducing these arrears makes the biggest difference in my daily life because they have already enrolled in secondary school. My greatest joy is seeing my children pursuing their goals.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly did well through identifying the poor and vulnerable members in my community to benefits from the cash program. This is because, most of the community members have acquire the things they lacked such as shelters, livestock and ventured into businesses. GiveDircetly did nothing wrong at its work.

I spent the second transfer to buy two goats . I bought school supplies, school uniforms and paid school fees for my four children who are in secondary and primary school respectively. I am glad although at the start of this term they were unable to enroll to school with the required items but through GiveDirectly's transfer, they have acquired all this when going back to school after the short school half term.

The transfer has enabled me to fulfil my family's basic needs such as buying daily food and clothing without much struggle unlike before. My main source of income was burning and selling charcoal. The income that I got couldn't sustain my family. Sometimes we would stay without food. Ever since I received this money, providing for my family has never been a problem. I also bought a cow which I am keeping in my homestead. I am expecting it to reproduce so that I can get income out of it by selling milk.

I remember waking up early that day to prepare breakfast for my children as they were getting late to school. I heard a vibration on my phone. I stopped what I was doing and went to check what the message was all about. I was surprised to see an Mpesa message. As I read through the message, I couldn't hold the excitement that filled my heart. I was overjoyed when I realized that I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly.

I spent KES 13000 to clear school fees for my children so that they would be allowed back to school. I am happy that they resumed their studies and now in classes without any interruptions. I also purchased a cow worth KES 15500. My expectation is that this cow will reproduce. I am hoping to start selling milk soon which will be my other source of income. I can also readily sell it when a financial crisis hits us. Providing for my family also was a challenge because for a long time I have been depending on selling charcoal. This was unreliable and at times I was forced to stay without food. I am happy that ever since I received my transfer, I have been able to buy enough foodstuffs as well as fulfilling other basic needs such as clothing for my children and paying for some household expenses.