My first son is soon undergoing initiation ceremony that will see him graduate to adulthood. It is a very important stage in my community that comes with a lot of expenses. I am so happy and glad that I already have paid the initiation fee. What remains now is for us to build him a new house where he will be staying in after graduating. He will no longer be sleeping under the same roof with us since he has become an adult according to our customs and traditions. Since we have not built him a house, then he will have to sleep with other young men in our community and this may not be very comfortable with him and with us as well. We are looking forward to building him a small house that he will use. This may however take a little longer since we still rely on odd casual jobs to make money. The amount that we make is hardly enough to make ends meet at family level. I am very optimistic and hopeful that we somehow will get money and be able to do this someday soon.

In my opinion GiveDirectly does very well by giving support in form of cash. This gives everyone a chance to choose how well to spend the money. Unlike other organizations that comes with material support, GiveDirectly comes with cash and does not force anyone to spend the money in a particular way. Seeing how every household in my family now owns a dairy cow among other things that people have done is so fulfilling. I d on not think there is any other better way GiveDirectly could have done us proud except to give us support unconditionally and to give us cash for that matter.

When we received the second transfer, we used $60 to buy goats for keeping. The goats investment was was a savings plan towards payment of school fees for our first born son who is joining form one next year. We also paid his initiation fee of $90 since he is undergoing this right of passage this coming December. We did not want a situation where we will not have money for this rite when that time comes. We used another $25 to buy furniture to be used in our house; we did not have a table and therefore we bought one. We then spent another $60 to buy food for the family. We received the money at a time we were facing a very serious drought and lack of food. Prices of essential food items had also skyrocketed and we thought it wise to buy maize in bulk which took us for a couple of months. There were some debts owed to us by the extended family. The debts accumulated to $70 and we used the second transfer to clear this too. We now have peace of mind having cleared the balances. We used the amount that remained to buy clothes for our six children, making all of them happy and feeling part of the program that GiveDirectly brought. The money brought smiles in everyone's face in our family and we are so happy and grateful about this.

It was around 8 Pm when I heard a message notification from my phone. I was preparing supper at that time. When I checked it out I could not believe my eyes. It was a message confirming that I have received KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy because I have never received such an amount of money before. I immediately informed my family members and everyone celebrated. I knew I would be able to buy a dairy cow to cut the daily cost of buying milk. I planned on how to spend the money and withdraw the following day. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly enabled me to fulfill my dream.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have purchased a dairy cow. This is because I had no dairy cow and I used to incur the daily cost of buying milk. This was so costly because I do not have a continuous source of income. I depend on small-scale farming and making pots. The produce that I would get was on for consumption there was no surplus to get. The only source of income that I have is making pots and selling at the market. I make five pots per day, I sell one at KES 100. I sell this at the market and the money that I make is for basic household needs of the family and school fees for my children. Currently, I own a dairy cow and this has enabled me to cut the daily cost of buying milk. I am in a position to save the money that I would have used to buy milk for other basic needs. My children do not miss getting milk like before. They are so happy and appreciate seeing a cow in the compound. I am so grateful and I have devoted much of my time to this dairy cow-keeping project. I wish to make this my main source of income.

I spent KES 32,000 on purchasing a dairy cow. This was my priority since I used to buy milk and it was so costly for me. I depend on small-scale farming and making pots that I sell to earn an income. The amount of money that I would get was so small and I was not in a position to buy a dairy cow. Currently, I no longer buy milk and this had made my family get enough milk. I spent KES 4,200 on purchasing iron sheets. I am planning on building an extension room when I get the second transfer. The house that we lived in now is small and cannot host all my family comfortably. The remaining amount of money I spent on food and household items. I am so grateful for the support from GiveDirectly.