It was exactly 2 PM when I was preparing lunch for my children then my phone started ringing. Since I am illiterate, I asked my spouse to check who might be. On checking, he realized that it was an Mpesa message from GiveDirectly. Upon hearing that, I felt so happy and even left the cookig and started celebrating.

The biggest difference in my life is that the transfers empowered me to construct a decent house for my children. Before the coming of GiveDirectly, we used to shelter under the same house which was quite small and it could not accommodate us all. Therefore some of my children used to seek shelter from their grandmother's house which was quite far from the village. This issue has been stressing me for year's and I had no idea when I would construct their own because my spouse is jobless. I am now a proud mother because I no longer have to worry about my children's sheltering place.

I spent part of my first transfer on buying some building materials such as iron sheets, building poles, nails, and threads. This was for the construction of a new house for my children whom we have been sharing the same house for all those years and it was very small. Also, I bought some beddings such as two beds and mattresses to replace the olds mats that I have been using as beddings. Finally, I bought enough foodstuffs for my family and some other household items that I was lacking.