Having the pair of oxen has made my life to be totally different. I have been having the desire to buy them for a long period of time but due to my financial status, I could not afford it. I believe and hope they will be of great help in ploughing my farm since the pair can take less days to plough an acre as compared to tilling myself. I believe I will get increased harvest products from the previous ones being that I prepared my farm in time unlike before when I used to do it myself. Apart from that, I will also hire them to my neighbors at a fee and get an income to help me sustain my family needs .

Before the coming of GiveDirectly to my village, our lives were so miserable. We are now so grateful because of what the organization did to us. First, our children are now studying without any disruptions. This is because from the transfers we received from GiveDirectly, we bought them, stationeries school uniforms and paid their fees as well. Their academic performance has also improved. Secondly, we now own different types of livestock such goats and cows. The cows will help us in many ways like providing us with milk and even ploughing our farms. With the goats most of us have a business of buying and selling the offsprings to the local markets. Our lives have greatly changed. In my opinion GiveDirectly has done so well in my community, I do not see any sector that they failed us.

I spent part of my second transfer on buying a bed and a mattress at KES 8,000. Previously, I used to sleep on a very small bed without a mattress. I was so uncomfortable and I was always having some back pains. Secondly, I bought some utensils such as plates, cups and many more. I then bought an ox and the ox plough. Now I have a pair of oxen which I both acquired them from my transfers. I also bought a bicycle which is helping me in fetching water and also my son uses it as his means of transport to the school. The remaining amount of money, I bought some foodstuffs for my family.

Apart from livestock being used for ploughing in my community, it is also a measure of wealth. I have never owned any, making me be regarded as poor. The fact that I now have my own makes me feel rich. I have something to be proud of, with them, my family will always have food all through the year given that we will be ploughing on time and catching up with the rains.

It is rare to see my husband smile and when I saw him smile on that day, I knew there must be some good news. What I was not sure of was its source, even though he was checking my phone. He raised his head and confirmed to me that we had received money from GiveDirectly. We were so happy and thanked God for the blessings. It is not every other day that we would have that kind of money.

In my village, we solely depend on agriculture for food production. This means that you have to plough at least a large portion of land at the right time so that you keep up with the rains for at least a good harvest. I could not do all these for lack of oxen. I had to hire from people with the little money I get from the menial jobs. This could not be enough either as it forced me to be sharing that money with the other household basic needs required from time to time. My harvest has not been that good over the years for all these reasons and my family had to occasionally go without food. When I received money from GiveDirectly, I thought of giving my household enough to feed on, this I could only achieve by having my own oxen. I bought a pair. Cultivating my farm is now easier and I do it at the right time, just before the rains. I am expecting a good harvest in the next season. With this, my family will always have enough to feed on unlike before. Paying school fees has been a challenge too. Part of the money went to this course. The school require me to pay the fees in lump sum, but being a mere casual labourer, this has not been successful and my children sometimes had to stay home for lack of school fees, and when I did get the money, I could not pay for all of them at once. I had to divide among them, so that at least they could remain in school. I did just that using part of the money from GiveDirectly. Last term, I felt so proud of being able to keep my children in school. I was also able to purchase two goats for rearing.