The moment I received the money message, I felt so excited and overwhelmed unconditionally since I knew I was going to settle some of the issues which have been bothering me. Initially things were bad, our living situation was poor. No food, no good shelter, on school fees. But since the day I received your support my life have greatly changed positively and am seeing bright days. My family and I live in a good house not as before, we are sleeping on beds but initially we used to sleep on the ground, we used to live in a congested house - single room house but now we managed to renovate it to a two roomed house plus a sitting room, it’s spacious enough for my family. We can now afford some food not as before when we used to sleep hungry. My family is now healthy, happy and their happiness gives me peace of mind. All this is because Give Direct is at my rescue.

GiveDirectly is doing a great job in improving peoples living conditions. It's impact to the community will remain a big legacy. I wish the assistance proceeds to a third transfer.

I am a mother of 8 children, 3 of the elder sons are casual laborers, 4 girls are married and the last born is in primary school. My husband and I are peasant farmers and we solely rely on the poor harvests we have been getting due to poor rain seasons in our area. As at now, it has been long since we received adequate rainfall for farming. Initially sleeping hungry was almost a norm in our family. Upon receiving the second transfer, my husband and I took KES 10,000 to cater for our daily food. We also solved a long-term problem we have been facing concerning our bedding. We bought a nice bed at KES 8,500.00, a mattress worthy KES7,000.00, and livestock (goats) worthy KES 14,000.00. We bought them because the ones we had had died due to lack of pastures and paid school fees for the primary school child. And the remaining little amount to push us a bit in the daily upkeep in terms of buying some food stuffs.

It was around 8 AM when I had gone to check on my friends in the neighboring village. Suddenly I heard my phone ringing continuously which was alerting me of an incoming message. Upon checking, I confirmed that it was an Mpesa message from Segovia Technology. I was overwhelmed with joy and I remember having to return back home and share the good news with the rest of my family members.

A lot has happened ever since I received my first transfer bit the fact that I now own goats as my assets make the biggest difference in my daily life. Previously, I did not have any asset that I could rely on o in case of any emergency or financial constraints. This is because they were too expensive and income was very low and I had lots of family's basic needs to cater to. I settled for goats because they reproduce faster and their offspring normally mature faster as compared to the other domestic animals. Therefore I am certain they will multiply within a short period of time. Through this, I believe I will be able to pay school fees for my children once they transition to high school. Also, I will be able to settle the household bills on time because I will be in a position to sell some of the goats.

I spent part of my first transfer on buying iron sheets, building poles, nails, threads, and timber, and labor. This was purposely for the addition of one room to my initial house, which had a single room and could not accommodate my family members. Also, I bought four goats for a total of KES 16000. I also cleared school fees for my children who are both in primary schools and they are now studying with fewer disturbances. Also, I bought a new bed and, mattress to replace the old traditional beds. With the remaining amount, I am using it in buying enough food for the family.