Life was very difficult before I was enrolled in the program because of my low income which made it impossible for me to provide for my family. I had to live in a small house together with two of my friends so that we could afford to raise the money fro te rent. Living with friends was not the best idea because we influenced each other negatively and engaged in some indecent activities just to make money. When I started benefiting from the program, I broke away from the group and moved into my own house which I mostly pay for using the transfers. Living alone has made me more responsible and focused to succeed in life and provide a better life for my children. I got the courage to move out into my own house because of the assurance of receiving money each month that would make it possible for me to pay the rent as I work on other means of becoming financially stable so that I can stand on my own when the project ends.

I am a hairdresser and currently working from home so that I can manage to take care of my little baby. It is not easy having customers come to your house for hairdressing services because here, there are no hairdressing equipment that may be required, so they prefer to go to the salon. To ensure I benefit from this talent, I am planning to open my own salon with most of the hairdressing equipment so that I can increase my customer base. I do not want to be employed at another salon because that will force me to pay a commission for every job I do which will affect my daily earnings.

Ever since I started receiving the transfers, I have always committed them to pay my rent so that I can focus on other household requirements through my jobs. This is because I moved into a better house of my own where I am now the only one responsible for paying rent unlike before when we shared a house and contributed to raise the required amount.

I have found new meaning in life since I started getting transfers. I had been idling with a group of girls. Some were prostitutes and others working in the bars. We could idle around most of the time and this meant I was not doing anything constructive to improve my life. I was not able to pay fees for my child. He used to be sent home most of the time. I could at times struggle to pay rent. I thank GiveDirectly since I am able to take care of my bills easily especially after starting my business.

My new goal is to start a second business. I am a hairdresser by profession. The business has been doing well until lately when I lost customers. I don't have a structure and not everyone was comfortable coming to my house. Through GiveDirectly's money, I can now afford to pay rent and market myself well. I know that when these two businesses are well established, I will be able to get more income to cater to my family needs.

I had delayed paying rent and the deadline was almost due. I topped up part of my transfer and paid rent. I also did shopping in my house and kept some as savings. I hope that the savings will one day help me start another business or even boost the one I am currently doing. I took maternity leave and I plan to get back to work by January. I am glad that the savings will come in handy when that time comes.

I have been able to see a difference in my life because, by the time I started receiving the transfers, I was still staying in my mothers' house but then I finally managed to move out and have my own place where I currently stay with my kids. I pay my own rent every month and cater fully for my two kids without having to rely on financial help from my mother as I used to do in the past. I can say that I am now financially independent, which to me is such a positive thing.

My new goal currently is to start a cosmetic business, add a salon which will also double up as a barber shop. This is what I studied in school professionally so I am sure that once I start it off then the business will be able to prosper.

I spent the cash transfers on paying my house rent which is normally 3000 KES every month. I also paid school fees for my child who is currently in class six. After making expenditures on the two items, I remained with one thousand shillings which I used to buy food for my kids.

My goal now that I have started receiving the money is to open a saloon business because I have a passion for braiding. I will equip my shop with other ladies stuffs so that it will be like a saloon as well as a cosmetic shop. With this, I will be self-employed and my child will not be lacking his needs since I will be having a stable source of income. I will be using this income to support myself, invest more in the business and in my child's education.

The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving payments from GiveDirectly is that I now live alone with my son unlike before when I used to live with a friend. I was not so comfortable living with her since whenever it was the end of the month and I did not have money to pay for the rent, my friend would not even give my son food nor talk to me since she felt like I was a burden to her. Being able to fully pay for my bills while living alone so far makes me happy and I thank God for the far He has brought me.

I spent part of my most recent transfer to pay for my house rent since I did not have any money to use and the landlord was threatening to close my house. My son had been sent back home since I had not paid his school fees. This prompted me to use the remaining amount after adding it to what I had and used them collectively to pay for his school fees so that he would resume his classes and catch up with other students.

At first, I was surprised the moment I started receiving my money. This is because we have had other NGOs coming to our place promising to help us but none fulfilled their promise. After some time when I realized that other people in my group had also received their money, I became so happy since I knew that it was all Gods doing. I really thank GiveDirectly for coming up with a project to help youths especially her in Mathare.